On the Run
by Flighty Wren
Summary: Ryan Dolado is an average girl that never believed in aliens. One night she is forced from her home by the Seekers. Will she survive long enough to find one of the remaining human communities or will she and her family be caught by the Seekers? OC mostly
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Host. Unfortunately Stephenie Meyer does.**

Most people don't know what it was like in the beginning. I do. I was one of the first to go into hiding when the invasion began. I was there when the aliens took over our minds and started controlling our bodies. We didn't even realize what was happening at first. They were so good at acting human that we never knew what was happening until it was too late. Maybe if we had listened to those that we had labeled as paranoid at the time we would have had a better chance of surviving. It was then that we ran for our lives. That is where my story begins.

My cousin, Jennifer, was crouched under my mother's clothes in her closet with me. We were hiding from my eight year old sister who was playing hide-and-seek with us. Our mothers were downstairs talking about mother stuff and my two younger siblings were either hiding or hunting down the rest of us. Jennifer was thoroughly convinced that she was looking for us downstairs so she was telling me stories as we waited.

"Ryan," My name was rather unfortunate but my mother, convinced she was having a boy, had grown rather attached to it so it had stuck, "have you heard what my mom's been saying lately?" She sounded incredibly worried. I nodded. Her crazy mother had been telling our parents to not trust anyone lately and that they would soon have to leave home. She was convinced that there was some sort of alien invasion going on. She was the creator of half the conspiracy theories out there. She said that the aliens were almost completely in control of the planet and that soon they'd be coming after us in our homes soon. "She's been packing our clothes up lately. Along with food that lasts a while and other necessities. She says we've got to be prepared for when they come. She makes me get up in the middle of the night and grab my things and run outside. She makes me sleep in my clothes with my shoes at the bottom of my bed. She makes me keep a knife with me in my room. She says she wants me to be able to defend myself against them. She's been giving me driving lessons." I frowned.

"Why? You're only thirteen." She made a face. We were only a month apart in age and were as close as sisters. I wished silently that I could get driving lessons.

"She says that I have to be prepared for when they come. She says that if they come in the middle of the night I have to be ready to run. She tells me that I probably can't run fast enough so I'll have to take the car. She's really scaring me. Dad tells me to ignore her but I think she might be right." Her eyes were swimming. "My friends have been beginning to act strange and Uncle Michael has been uncharacteristically polite and formal. What do you think is happening?" I felt bad for her. She was really scared but I needed to calm her down so I pretended that it didn't bother me. I shrugged.

"I think your mom has done the practical prank one better. Don't listen to her but do what she tells you to. Try not to think about it." I smiled but her words had struck a chord. What she had said her mother was saying made sense. I had gotten the feeling that something was wrong with the world. Maybe it was the fact that the crime rate had dropped drastically or maybe it was that patients that had been told they were never going to leave the hospital were walking out the very same hospitals' doors on a regular basis. "Shh, I can hear Emily." We quieted as we listened to Emily's footsteps outside the closet door. She walked past our hiding place.

"I would just feel better if you would pack one of those backpack things that mom's making me pack. I want you to be prepared just in case mom is right about whatever she's talking about." She took my hand. "I don't want them to get you."

"Who are you talking about when you say 'them'?" Her face paled.

"Mom doesn't talk too much about the actual aliens. She just says I won't be able to tell them apart from my friends and family. She says if she starts acting strange that she wants me to leave home. I'm afraid that something's happening. What if the world _is_ ending like she says?" Her tears welled over and spilled down her cheeks. "I'm getting really scared." She sobbed quietly enough that Emily wouldn't hear. I hugged her and she cried onto my shoulder.

"Don't worry. It'll be okay. I won't ever leave you. I'll always stay with you. Everything will be alright. If you want we can pack my stuff after Emily is finished making us play games with her." I patted her back. Her arms tightened even more around my waist until it was hard to breathe.

"Thank you so much. I'm just so afraid." She whispered. I nodded. Aunt Lucy was really getting on my mom's nerves. They had been fighting lately about what Aunt Lucy had been telling my brother, sister, and me. My mom was a firm believer that humans were the only beings in the universe. She didn't appreciate her sister telling us that a time would soon com when we couldn't even trust our families. The last time she had said anything on that topic mom had kicked her out of the house before she had even taken her coat off. After that she gave Jennifer messages for us. It was a rather uncomfortable relationship. "Anyway, so getting off the topic of an alien invasion. Do you want to work on Mrs. Freebird's science assignment? I've been having problems drawing the diagram she wants. Can you help me with it?" She didn't look like she really cared about the assignment.

"Sure I can help you. Now be quiet. Emily's coming back upstairs." We could both hear her stomping around outside the door and I guessed that she was having a hard time finding us. Jennifer bit her lip. She was probably thinking about her mother's words. They were still on my mind too. The last thing she had told me three weeks ago before Mom had thrown her out of the house echoed in my head.

"_Ryan I need you to promise that if Jennifer ever comes and tells you to run away with her and that it's not safe anymore you need to go with her no matter what. If I'm not with her it means that it's too late to stay in your house. You need to take your sister and brother and go to the fifth picture on the fifth page. You'll be safe there. Anna,"_ that was my mother's name. She had started to talk to her when Mom had made me leave the room. _"Anna, if your husband comes back from that conference of his and he doesn't seem right you need to take your kids and run. Don't ever look back or they'll get you." _At that point Mom had shoved Aunt Lucy along with Jennifer out the door. However, before Mom had slammed the door in her face she had gotten in one more sentence. _"Don't visit any friends or family and don't go outside without a way to protect yourself."_ She'd shouted as the door shut in her face. After that Mom had turned around and told us not to listen to our aunt's crazy talk. But we'd had a hard time forgetting what she had said. What did she mean by "the fifth picture on the fifth page"? I could ask Jennifer.

"Jen," She looked up at me, "Your mom told us that we'd be safe if we went to the fifth picture on the fifth page. What does that mean?" She frowned.

"Mom has a thing for the number five. For example: she hides her money in the fifth drawer from the top in her dresser and she's got a box of sentimental things under the fifth floorboard from the door. You know how our family has tons of photo albums? I think there might be a picture of a bunker or secret hiding place that she built in the fifth album on the fifth page in the fifth picture. Maybe it's near a place we've been once for a party or something. She scribbled gibberish all over the back of the photo album that had the picture in it. Stuff about 'right at the talking tree' and 'left at the bouncing waterfall' it's just gibberish like I said."

"We might need it just in case it really leads somewhere." She nodded. "Can you sneak it out of your house? We could pack it in with my stuff. I just need to make sure my bag doesn't weigh too much. Maybe we should pack stuff for Emily and Justin. We can keep the bags in my room under my bed. I know we're sounding paranoid but I think your mom might be right. There's something happening in the world and I think we should be prepared." She frowned.

"Do you think we're just a bunch of twelve year olds that have let their imaginations run away? Do you think we're just being silly?" She laughed shortly.

"Even if we are I'd feel better if I was ready to run away." As I said this the closet door opened and Emily was staring down at us.

"I found you!" She sang. She could be the poster child for cute eight year old girls. She had beautiful blonde hair cut short that had streaks of brown in it. She had a round face and had dimples when she smiled. Her eyes were a liquid blue that was so pure I didn't think I had ever seen anything like it. Even if I was in a bad mood I couldn't ever stay mad at her for long. She was too happy. I didn't like to make her upset. She smiled down at us and we both got up from our cramped positions in the closet. "Do you want to help me find Justin?" She asked as she bounced down the hall ahead of us.

"Not really. We've got some stuff to do." I smiled at my words. If Mom knew I was starting to take Aunt Lucy seriously she would flip. "C'mon Jennifer, let's go." Emily trotted downstairs to look for Justin and we went into my room to find a couple duffel bags.

"Okay," she said as soon as the door was shut, "so Mom let me help put my bag together so I know what to put in it. We need four days worth of clothes, a flashlight, pocketknife, first-aid kit, and any lightweight items that you don't want to get rid of. Anything else you can think of that you might want or need is okay. If you have a lock picking kit like I do you can pack that." I raised an eyebrow. "It was a birthday present last month." I nodded. That sounded like something my aunt would get her. For Jennifer's tenth birthday her mother gave her a set of night vision goggles. "Anyway I need you to put the stuff you're going to pack on your bed so I can put it together for you. You might also need some food." I was already pulling clothes out of my drawers. Not enough to look suspicious but enough to fill her requirements. After I had all my clothes and things ready she folded them up and stuck them professionally into the backpack I provided. "Let's go sneak some food from your pantry." She whispered as she zipped the bag shut. We cracked the door open and crept down the stairs hoping that my mom wouldn't hear us. "You know what? I'm going to go get my mom to help us. She'll know what to pack." She walked casually into the living room where our parents were talking about stuff that we didn't care about. After a few minutes she came back out with her mother.

"So you're finally a believer?" She whispered in case mom heard.

"No, but it can't hurt to be prepared." She nodded and then led us down into the basement where we kept all the food that lasted a long time.

Half an hour later my emergency pack was finished. Aunt Lucy was beaming the whole time while telling me that this was serious business. She told me that I needed to be careful and that if I ever really needed to leave home that I could never go back. Mom didn't seem suspicious as she hugged Aunt Lucy goodbye and promised that she would drop Jennifer off in the morning. We often had sleepovers in the summer. We stayed up late talking long after the rest of my family had fallen asleep.

"Do you think we can find the picture mom was talking about?" Jennifer whispered as she leaned on her elbows, looking over at me.

"I can ask my mom about it and you can ask your mom about it and then we can look for it by ourselves." She smiled a half-smile that she did when she was nervous. "Do you really believe my mom?" I laughed quietly.

"No, but I figure it can't hurt to have an emergency pack just in case the house burns down or a hurricane hits or something. The boy scout motto is 'always be prepared' I might as well live by it." She nodded as if that made sense. Then she chuckled. "What's so funny?" She shook her head.

"It's nothing, it's just that Mom made me bring my kit here. I can't believe it. She made me bring four gallons of water with me in case I had to go on the run tonight and I didn't have a chance to go back home and get them. She's so annoying sometimes." She huffed. Then her expression softened and changed into one of fear. "Do you really think they'll come for us in our house? Could it really be happening like she says?" I sighed.

"What exactly does she say?" She had never gone into specifics.

"She says that they take over your body so you can't control what you do anymore. That you can't tell which ones are human and which ones aren't and that they won't stop until all the humans are gone. She really scares me. She makes it seem like it's really happening. Maybe it is. Maybe we are losing the planet. Maybe we will lose our minds to the parasites that she says are coming here. I've never really been on the run. If we do have to go into hiding and stay away from civilization I don't know if I can do this. She makes it sound so easy but she's done this before. She was the type of person that did that kind of thing for fun. She's nuts. But she might be right." Her last sentence sounded like she had already given up on the situation. My heart was pounding. She was making me nervous.

"Jennifer, I'm getting really scared. Just stop talking about it. Let's go to sleep." She nodded and rolled onto her back to go to sleep. After a few minutes of silence she sighed.

"I'm sorry I just can't stop thinking about it." She rolled onto her side trying to get comfortable. I waited to for sleep but it didn't come. Every time I got close to falling asleep I remembered what Aunt Lucy had told mom. She had said that if dad came back all weird that mom should take her kids and run. She said it wouldn't be safe to look back or they would get us. Would it really be so bad that we would have to leave dad? Would it be so bad that we couldn't trust our family? No. I told myself firmly. It would not come to that. With that I turned over and fell asleep.

"Ryan, wake up. I think I heard people downstairs. You have to get up _now_!" Jennifer was shaking my shoulder. I could sense how terrified she sounded. I sat straight up in bed. I wasn't dreary any more. I was scared out of my mind. "I already woke Justin and Emily up and they've got their bags in case they have to leave. Stay very quiet and don't make too much noise when you go for your bag. We have to get your family out safe." Her eyes kept flitting to the door and then back to me.

"Are you sure it's not just my mom or dad sleepwalking or getting a drink?" She shook her head. It was a jerky movement.

"I heard them talking. They were talking with your dad. He told them that 'these ones would be easy to catch because they're all asleep.' He told them that we weren't prepared and that only one of us knew about them. We have to get out of here. Your dad's gone. We have to leave. Your mom won't listen to me so you have to tell her what's going on." She picked a lumpy shape off the ground and slung a messenger bag across her body so it wouldn't fall off easily. "Get your bag and get your mom. I'll get your siblings out and we'll meet at my house. Go." She thrust the bag that I had never thought I would use into my arms and tiptoed out into the hall. I was almost paralyzed by horror. He had sold us to the bad guys. My chest hurt. I took a deep breath. This was not going to be easy. Mom would not listen. I slipped out of my room into the hall. I listened for sound from downstairs as I silently ran to my mom's room. They must have been waiting for something down there. I knew that Jennifer wasn't making it up. I could somehow sense a presence downstairs.

I carefully opened the door to my mom's room. I could hear her quiet snores as they filled the room. I snuck over to her bed. I put my hand on her mouth considering whenever she woke up she usually gasped really loud. Even with my hand the gasp carried and I nervously looked over my shoulder to make sure no one came running.

"Rye, is something wrong?" She sounded worried. I put my finger over my lips to tell her to be quiet.

"Mom, I know you think Aunt Lucy is crazy but you have to listen to me. There are people downstairs and we have to get out of here." She frowned.

"Not you too, I'm not taking this. Go back to bed." She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.

"Mom, I'm not kidding. We have to get out of here right now. Aunt Lucy was right. Dad didn't come back from the conference. He's not himself. Jennifer says the people downstairs were brought here by Dad and that they're going to catch us. We need to get out of here. Jennifer's already got Justin and Emily out and we need to go to Aunt Lucy's. You have to trust me. I wouldn't lie about this kind of thing." I tugged on her arm. She got out of bed and put her hands on each side of my face, staring into my eyes as she spoke.

"Honey, Aunt Lucy is crazy. She doesn't know what she's talking about." Right then I knew I had to make it sound like I was on her side. It was the only way I could get her out of here. I smiled like I had been reassured.

"Thanks, Mom I was really worried about Jennifer. She's been telling me stories about what her mom's been talking about. It scared me. When I woke up Jennifer was gone and I can't find Justin and Emily. There was a note on from Jennifer telling me that it wasn't safe in the house and that she'd taken them to Aunt Lucy's house. We need to go and get them." I tugged her hands off my face. Her lips were a thin line and her green eyes sparked like they always did when she was angry.

"Lucy has gone too far. Come on we need to talk to her. Where is your father?" She looked around the room.

"He must be getting a drink or something like that. Let's just go." She went out ahead of me and I grabbed a pair of her jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of socks for her. I knew we wouldn't be able to come back here if Aunt Lucy was right. She waited for me at the top of the stairs. She didn't even comment on my backpack as we crept down the stairs. As we walked past the living room towards the door the light in the living room turned on and standing in the middle of the room with his hand on the switch of a lamp was Dad. He wasn't the kind and loving person that he usually was. His face was hard and cold. He wasn't even in his pajamas. He was wearing a suit.

"Anna, where are you going?" He took a step towards us as mom put her sneakers on.

"Your sister-in-law's daughter took our two children to her house because she was under the impression that there was some sort of alien down here. I'm going to give that woman a piece of my mind for putting stories like that into our children's heads." She grabbed her car keys off the table and opened the front door. I looked into the dark dining room and saw several dark figures in the shadows. Mom didn't notice because she was talking to Dad.

"Anna, wait until tomorrow. She won't hurt them. She just—" His sentence cut off suddenly. He took several deep breaths. Then he looked at mom in wonder. "Anna?" He sounded relieved. "Anna, don't let them get you. Don't trust me. Get to Lucy's she was right. Ryan, be brave." Tears sprung up in his eyes. Then his face smoothed over and he was cold again. Mom was halfway out the door.

"Jack, when did you change your mind? What's going on?" The dark forms in the dining room started moving.

"Mom, get in the car." I said this so fast that I was surprised she understood me. She took a slow step out the door. "Move!" I ran at her and pushed her the rest of the way out the door. Suddenly the front hall was filled with people. They had guns at their belts and what looked like bulletproof vests. Mom saw them and started running so abruptly that I fell over. I scrambled to my feet and ran after her. She dashed to the car and climbed in. She had the engine started before I climbed into the passenger side seat. She didn't even tell me to put on my seatbelt as she sped off down the street.

"What is going on, Ryan? Who were those people? What was wrong with your dad?" She sounded like she was losing it.

"I don't know. All I know is that Aunt Lucy was right and that Dad is one of them now." She started sobbing. She must be having hysterics. "Mom, calm down everything's going to be okay. We're going to go to Aunt Lucy's and she'll know what to do. Justin and Emily are going to be okay. Jennifer has known how to take care of herself since she was six." We both laughed though her laugh was edgy and higher-pitched than normal. Mom took a shaky breath.

"You're right. She can take care of them. This is just so much to swallow. How did she know?" She was whispering as if the people from the house could hear us.

"I don't know. She knew before everyone else did and she knew where to go and what to do. How could she have seen this coming?" I was whispering too. I couldn't help it.

"She saw this coming before it happened. She believed that the alien invasion was happening before it really did. I called her crazy but she was right. We're never going home again are we?" I looked at her just in time to see a tear slide down her cheek. The question had a type of finality about it. It put the whole situation into perspective. She was right. We never were going home. I was never going to walk through those doors again. That life was over.

It didn't take too long to get to Aunt Lucy's house. She was only on the other side of town. Her lights were on and I saw her face peeking out of the window as we drove up. We got out, checking behind our backs as we jogged up the front walk. The door was open and Aunt Lucy was shepherding us inside before we had time to ask any questions. Once the door was shut Aunt Lucy hugged Mom. Then, as if she was appalled with herself, she pulled away. A flashlight shone in both our eyes before she hugged Mom again.

"I'm so glad you made it. I was afraid they'd gotten you. Don't worry. Jennifer will be here any minute." She held Mom at arm's length and looked her over. "You look awful. Didn't you bring any clothes?" She asked as she led us into the living room. I held up the bundle I had grabbed before leaving the house.

"Got it. Actually can I use your bathroom? I think I'm going to barf." Now that we were somewhat safe my nerves took over and made my stomach churn. She nodded. I dropped the clothes and ran up stairs to the bathroom. I just barely made it. I didn't feel better but at least my stomach was empty so I was sure I wouldn't get sick again. I wiped my mouth and ran back downstairs. Mom had changed and was pacing back and forth in front of Aunt Lucy who was sitting on the couch. I was still sick. I sat down next to Aunt Lucy. She patted my back.

"Ryan, try to calm down. You can't afford to be emotional. If you let yourself become attached to a place or person you'll get caught." Mom stopped pacing and stared at her. "You have to build a wall around you heart and never tear it down. It's not safe to remember those you left behind."

"Are you saying she shouldn't be attached to her family? That she's not allowed to feel anything anymore?"

"That's not what I'm saying. It's safer for her not to get attached. If you get caught or I get caught or someone she loves gets caught she might get caught as well. She has to learn to let go and never look back. Ryan," She turned back to me, "That thing in your house was not your father. Your father is dead. He's never coming back." Her voice was hard and unkind. I knew she was right. My dad was gone. I clenched my teeth. That thing, whatever it was, was not my dad. It was an enemy now. I ignored the tears that stung my eyes. "Anna, it's not your husband. You can never go back there no matter what." Mom fell backwards onto the armchair.

"He was so strange. I should have seen this. But when we were leaving he got all quiet and his face went from distant to relief like he was seeing me for the first time in a long time. He told me not to trust him and that I had to get to your house as soon as possible. Then he went back to the way he's been acting lately. It was the strangest thing I've ever seen." Aunt Lucy's mouth opened with a pop.

"Let me tell you how these things work. I've told you before but you've never listened to me for real. These things that have taken over need our bodies to live. I don't know what they look like but they get put into our bodies at the back of our neck so they can take over the brain. After they're attached or whatever they control the body and the actions and speech of the person and the person gets erased completely. Once the human is gone they don't often come back. Sometimes if they know what's happening when they get caught they don't leave. Even if they do know what's going on if they stay in the body it a rare event. What your husband did was remarkable. Sometimes the human can fight their way back to the surface and speak and act for themselves. Your husband was talking to you."

"Aunt Lucy," I spoke up causing Mom to jump, "three weeks ago when Dad was still on his conference you said that if we went to the fifth picture on the fifth page that we'd be safe. What did you mean?" She smiled and got up. When she came back from who knows where she was carrying a box.

"We don't have much time. As soon as Jennifer comes we need to leave. I'll take you where we need to go. We'll be safe there. Not even the government knows about this place." She took several photo albums out of the box and then gently took the fifth album out and placed it on the table. "This is it. If we get separated or if they come you need to take this and guard it with your life. If they find it they will find us and it will be over for all of us." She handed me the book. The back door creaked open and we jumped to our feet. Aunt Lucy fished a small hand gun out from between the cushions on the couch. "Come into the living room."

"It's me, Mom. I've got them with me." Jennifer moved slowly into the light. Justin and Emily were cowering behind her. "Here," she lifted her long hair off her neck and turned to show us the skin at the nape of her neck. It was smooth and perfect. Aunt Lucy let the gun drop to her side. "Mom, they're about find us. They followed Aunt Anna here. They're almost here. We have to leave." Aunt Lucy nodded and got up.

"Anna, I'll try to stay with you. If any of us get separated stay in hiding and hope that we find you. Everyone into the kitchen. I'm going to get my bag and then we're each going to take two bags of food and leave. Let's go." We turned off all the lights as we passed them and dashed into the kitchen. Jennifer opened a cupboard and pulled out about six bags that were full to the breaking point.

"Each of these bags has enough food for two weeks. Don't eat too much or you'll run out. One Ziploc baggie of food a day and half a canteen of water a day. Those are the rules. Take these and fill them with water." She tossed us several canteens. "Everyone gets one each. You have to control yourselves when it comes to drinking and eating." I held the canteen under the flow of water in the sink. I made sure they were overflowing with water before I screwed the cap on and distributed them amongst my family members. It was then that Aunt Lucy appeared among us.

"I'm going to spilt you up into pairs. Justin and Anna, Emily and me, Ryan and Jennifer, those are the pairs. I want you to stay with your partner and don't lose them no matter what. Hold hands if you want. Justin and Emily try to stick with the grownups. My husband has already left. He'll be there before we get there. He'll be safe. I want everyone to stick together. Ryan do you have the album?" I nodded. We heard a loud crash as the front door was kicked down. My heart jumped. Jennifer was the first to bolt out the back door and we were soon sprinting across their back yard towards their neighbor's fence. Mom vaulted over it first and helped Justin and Emily over. I scaled it and dropped to the ground on the other side. Jennifer and Aunt Lucy were right behind us. I had never expected that we could run this fast. We ran through back yards hoping that no one could see us. When we had been running all night and Emily started complaining that she was going to die if she ran another step Aunt Lucy let us take a breather. We had stopped under a bridge somewhere I didn't recognize.

"Don't fall asleep." She said as we gasped for air. My stomach gurgled loudly. It was almost sunrise and I hadn't had anything to eat all night. "Time for breakfast." She took the bag that mom gave her and unzipped it. After digging through it for a few minutes she produced several granola bars. She tossed two to each of us. Then she gave us each a juice box. "These are the things that won't last so they'll be eaten first. Eat fast. We can't stay in the same place too long." I looked around. We were all crouched under a bridge, avoiding the river that was bubbling past us carefully.

"Where are we? Why did we leave home? Where are we going?" Emily whined. She didn't know what was happening. No one had had time to explain it to her. She curled up on Mom's lap.

"Emily, don't you worry. We're going to be okay. We're just playing a little game." Emily looked up at her.

"Like hide-and-seek?" Mom smiled and nodded.

"Just like hide-and-seek except we don't want to be found ever. We can't let them find us. If they find us it's very bad." Emily frowned.

"Why? Where's Daddy?" I looked down at the dirt I was sitting on. I was still in my pajamas. I hadn't had a chance to change into jeans yet. Mom's eyes were wet again.

"Dad's gone." My voice was hard. I wasn't going to baby her anymore. She couldn't afford not to know the truth. "He's not coming back. He's the bad guy now."

"Ryan!" Mom was glaring at me reproachfully.

"She deserves to know. We can't treat her like a child anymore. She won't survive out there if she doesn't know what she's up against." Emily looked worried.

"What's Ryan talking about?" Mom sighed. Her body sagged and I could tell she gave up trying to protect us from what was out there.

"Honey, there are a lot of people out there that want to catch you. If they do they will put an alien inside of you and you will die. Daddy got caught. The person that is living in our house is not daddy. He's an alien. He's a bad guy. He will catch you and put an alien in you if you let him. You cannot let him catch you." Emily frowned.

"Daddy's gone." She glared at something. Maybe she was putting it to memory that we had to hate the person that was our father from now on. "You could have just told us what was going on."

"Yeah, you could have just told us." Justin piped up for the first time. I looked him over. It hurt to look at him. He was a spitting image of our dad. You couldn't even tell that he was Emily's twin. He had an oval face with dark brown eyes. His red hair hung down in his face. He had a lanky build that made him look years older than his young eight years. He too was still in his pajamas like the rest of us. "I think we can handle the fact that aliens have taken over the world and that we need to stay undercover for a while."

"Actually we're not going to be able to go in the open until its safe and that might not happen any time soon. Aunt Lucy knows a place where we can be safe. We're going there as soon as possible." I explained as Justin hung on my every word.

"It's not going to be easy. The place I know is far away. It will take us a month or so to get there. I want to see if some of my friends are still human. If they are we'll bring them along with us." We nodded. "I only have three guns. Jennifer you already have one. Here," she handed Mom one of the guns and me the other one, "Jennifer you can show Ryan how to use that." I gulped and held the gun at arm's length. "Don't be afraid of that. It's your protection. If you don't have that you will get caught. That's the only things that can keep you safe. Never let it leave your side. It's the key to your freedom." I didn't really hear her as Jennifer showed me how to load the gun.

"Do you really think a twelve year old can handle having a gun?" Mom was eyeing the gun I was holding.

"She won't be twelve for long. Her birthday is tomorrow and she'll be on the run much longer than one day. She needs to know how to defend herself. The other side won't have mercy on her because she's a child." Jennifer held her hands over mine and helped me practice aiming it.

"No, it's like this. You have to cock it. Here," She showed me how to cock the gun, "That's very important. Remember that. I'm going to take the ammo out and you're going to show me how okay?" I nodded. She unloaded the gun and handed me the gun and the ammo. I loaded the gun. She smiled. "You learn quickly. Take this and the ammo and make sure you never run out of bullets. Keep this safe." She passed it to me.

"Where am I supposed to keep it on me?" Instead of answering she unzipped the front pocket of my bag and put the gun along with the ammo into it. "Let's hope I never have to use that." I mumbled. Mom nodded in agreement.

"I think we need to change out of our pajamas and into clothes that are more comfortable to run in. Then we're going to pack up and get going. We can't stay still for too long. We can sleep later." We all got to our feet and stretched. Then we found private areas to change our clothes. We all met back under the bridge and packed our things up, not quite ready for a few more hours of running and hiking. Jennifer and Aunt Lucy made us stretch before we left. Emily made a face but remained silent. I guessed that she was complaining up a storm in her head where we couldn't hear her. We scrambled up the bank of the river and ran through the wildflowers that lined the road. Aunt Lucy often grabbed my hair and pulled my head down so it was below the top of the weeds. Emily whimpered every so often and I could tell she wasn't enjoying this. None of us were. Even Aunt Lucy complained that her back was bothering her after a few hours of being bent over double running at top speed. The heat didn't help anything. It was humid on top of everything. By the time my stomach was growling for more food my hair was plastered to my face and my clothes were sticking to me.

"Can we please stop? Don't you know of a place where we can rest? I'm starving." I panted. Aunt Lucy held up her hand and we all stopped walking. We didn't talk for a while and then Aunt Lucy nodded.

"I know of a place where we can stay for a few days. Let's go. It will be safe there and we don't have to move for a while." I took Emily's bag from her and put it on so she could have a break. "It should only take us until nightfall to get there and then we can sleep all we want. It's perfectly safe." Excitement about the new hiding place gave us a new energy. Just enough to get through until the sun started setting. Aunt Lucy led us through the underbrush and around trees. Right when I was sure things couldn't get much worse it started to rain heavily. "This is a good thing." Aunt Lucy said when we started complaining. "It will give us more cover. We're almost there." She held back a branch for us and we walked into a clearing. As far as I could see there was nothing special about this place except for the leaves that covered the ground. "We're here. Stand back." We crowded together while she walked forward, fell to her knees, and started crawling around on the ground looking for something. After a few minutes she brushed some leaves away from a spot. Then she pulled on something. A large trapdoor swung up out of the ground. My jaw dropped. She smiled at us. "I told you we were here. Everybody in." We ran past her and down the stairs that were underneath the door.

"Mom, when did you find or build this place? Where are we?" Jennifer was staring in wonder at the room we had gone down into. It wasn't what I had expected when she had said a safe place to stay. The walls were smooth concrete and the floor was the same. In the middle of the room there was a table with two chairs pulled up to it. There was a small stovetop oven in the corner and a door leading off to another room near the base of the stairs.

"I built this when I found out that the takeover was beginning. I knew I would have to use this place some day. There are two bunk beds in the bed room and someone can sleep on the couch. That leaves one person without a place to sleep. I can sleep on the floor. We'll rotate so everyone gets a chance to sleep on a bed." She walked into the bedroom. "The bathroom is right off the bedroom. I know it's risky but I got a septic tank so we can have a toilet. However, we are going to have to pump our own water. I didn't want any pipes leading them to this place." Just then I realized that she hadn't explained certain things to us.

"Aunt Lucy, is there really a way to tell these things apart from real people? Or do we just have to politely ask them to show us the back of their neck?" I chuckled.

"I've heard that if you shine a light on their eyes the irises turn silver and reflect the light back. That's why I had you bring flashlights." She took our bags from us and brought them into the bedroom. "There's a second way to get out of here. There's a passageway behind the mirror in the bedroom. It pops out on the bank of the Delaware River." I followed Emily and Justin into the bedroom and watched them collapse onto the bottom bunk of the first bed. There was a dresser in the corner behind one of the beds. I flopped onto the bottom bunk of the other bed. My muscles ached from the long day. I wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. I curled up on top of the thin blanket that was draped over the bed. I had to remind myself that I would not get to live like this very often. I decided it was time to toughen up. I took a deep breath.

_You're never going home again. If you go back you're dead. _I told myself. I had to teach myself to be hard and tough and cold. _Only people that want to get caught remember what they've lost. Only weak people look back. You can't get caught. No one can afford to complain when there's nowhere else to go. Just think of it this way, air conditioning doesn't exist anymore. Civilization is dangerous. You have to be brave for Justin and Emily. You can't _ever_ let them see that you're in fear and pain. They look up to you. You're a grownup now. You can't be a little kid anymore._ I tried to ignore the hot tears that I was crying. I was right though. I couldn't be a kid anymore when I had Justin and Emily here. And if we got separated from the adults I would have to take care of them and I wasn't sure if I was ready for that kind of thing. _You have to be ready. You don't have a choice. That life is over._ I nodded; of course I had to be ready. I took a deep breath.

"What do you think?" Mom had come into the room. I opened my eyes to see her sitting next to Justin and Emily's sleeping forms.

"It's fine. A lot better than a cave or anything like that. I get the feeling we won't be living like this for a while." She smiled.

"It is nice. I just wish this wasn't happening. It really is the end of the world isn't it?" I nodded. "Honey, I want you to do me a favor."

"Of course, whatever you want." She smiled again like this was what she had wanted to hear.

"If we get separated or if I get caught I want you to take care of Justin and Emily. And if I do get caught I don't want you to try to find me. I want you to take care of them for me. Can you make sure they stay safe?" I nodded. "You'll probably get stuck with Justin. We both know Emily wouldn't leave my side no matter what." I laughed.

"I promise that I'll take care of them. Don't make it sound inevitable. We might get wherever Aunt Lucy is taking us without any more trouble." She sighed and ruffled my hair. I cleared my throat to get rid of the lump rising in it. "Mom, Jennifer and I can share a top bunk and Justin and Emily can move. I don't want Aunt Lucy or you sleeping on the couch or floor. Jennifer won't mind." She smiled the beautiful smile that I got every time I did something nice for her.

"Thank you so much." She kissed my forehead and I got up so she could go to sleep. I shook my siblings until they woke up and then I got them to climb onto the top bunk before they fell asleep again. I got into my bed and stared at the ceiling wishing I was tired enough to fall asleep. I was still awake when Jennifer climbed into bed next to me.

"I hope we can get some sleep. We need to be strong. We're up for a hard time." She whispered. I could see that she was afraid to sleep like I was. I could see that her orangey-brown eyes were wide open.

"I'm afraid to fall asleep." She sighed. We listened to the sound of my mom's snoring for a while before I spoke.

"I am too, but we can't keep running if we're dead tired. I'll make a deal with you. If you go to sleep I'll go to sleep. That way we'll both get sleep." I nodded and closed my eyes. Once I relaxed I really was tired. My mind drifted over less terrifying topics than the ones that had been dominating my every conscious thought lately. I thought about my family members' faces. I hoped I would see them again. I hoped that when I woke up I wouldn't be in enemy territory. I sighed. I thought about Jennifer. She was much braver than I was. When we were younger even though she was only one month older than me I had always looked up to her. She was always the mature one. She was the one that knew how to take care of herself. Of course that all came from growing up in a house where alien invasions and secret bunkers under the basement had been common topics to discuss over dinner. She looked like the kind that would be able to fend for herself too. She had her beautiful amber hair constantly pulled back into a pony tail and she was strong and fit. I didn't know if I would survive this but I was sure she would.

Mom's face floated by next. She and I looked extremely alike. I had gotten all her looks except for the stocky build that her body had. She had emerald green eyes and a round face that was a good shape for the kind smiles that were always on her lips. She had silky black hair that she kept short. I was much prouder of my gorgeous black hair and had grown it down to my waist. I missed the old days when she would just sit on my bed behind me and brush my hair. She was Supermom. I reminded myself to give her a medal for getting us through this if we ever did. She was so kind and so good I knew I wouldn't be able to get anywhere without her. That's why the favor she had asked of me scared me so much.

Justin was after her. He had never been the annoying little brother that everyone else had. I had always taken care of him like I was really his older brother. One time he had been having problems with a bully at school. I had gone to pick him up from school, we only lived two blocks from the school, and I had found him getting picked on by the bullies. I had punched one of them in the face. After that they didn't bother him anymore. I knew he was only five years younger than me but I felt protective about him like I had been put in charge of him a long time ago. I hated the idea of him going hungry or tired because we had to stay hidden. If he hurt I hurt just as bad.

Emily. I moaned the name inside my head. She was delicate like one of those little porcelain dolls that your grandparents tell you not to touch every time you go to their house. She acted like a lady. She looked like a lady too. She had dirty blonde hair and pale blue eyes. She had pale skin that got sunburned very easily. She would have the hardest time with our new life. She hated being dirty and sweaty. She wouldn't even go camping in our backyard. I doubted that she would go one hour without complaining from now on. Then again she might use this situation to grow a backbone. I smiled at the idea of Emily having a backbone.

I didn't spend much time on Aunt Lucy. She was tough and agile for her age. She could probably survive the army if they would let her enlist. I moved onto the fact that tomorrow was my birthday. I was going to be a teenager finally. I was in the middle of pondering the fact that I wasn't looking forward to my birthday tomorrow when I fell asleep.

Jennifer had already woken up when I opened my eyes. I could hear people talking in the main room. I climbed out of bed and put my shoes on before going into the light to see who else was awake. I squinted at Mom, Aunt Lucy, and Jennifer as I sat down on the couch. Mom smiled at me.

"I see you're finally awake." I rubbed my forehead to get rid of the slight headache I had.

"What time is it?" Aunt Lucy looked at her watch.

"It's two in the afternoon. You deserved to sleep in late. We had a long day yesterday." I suddenly realized that there was a long box on the small table in front of me. Mom put her arm around my shoulders.

"Happy thirteenth Birthday, honey." She kissed my cheek. I beamed at them.

"You guys didn't have to do anything for me. Is it a present or a cake?" I pocked the box while Aunt Lucy laughed.

"It's a present. We couldn't find a cake." I opened the cardboard box. Gently I let the contents of the box slide out onto my lap. It was a cloth bag with what felt like metal poles in it that had some sort of logo printed on the side.

"Wow, I've always wanted a bag of metal." We laughed quietly so we wouldn't wake up Justin and Emily.

"It's a four person tent. We thought it would come in handy. Don't worry I already know how to set it up." Jennifer said pointing to the logo on the side.

"Thank you so much. It came with a tarp?" I asked as I pulled a plastic, blue bundle out of the box.

"In case it rains." Aunt Lucy said. I hugged each of them. "It was already here and we didn't want you to think we'd forgotten your birthday so we found a box and taped it up. It only weighs about ten pounds so it won't weigh you down. It's a pretty good tent. I'm going to go add it to your backpack. I want you to strip the beds when we leave so you'll have blankets and pillows to sleep on later. In fact, why don't we do that right now?" She bustled into the bedroom and we trudged reluctantly behind her. She had turned on the lantern that hung from a hook in the middle of the ceiling and was folding the blankets into small rectangles. Then she stuffed the blankets into our already bulging bags. I picked up my backpack to make sure it wasn't too heavy. I was surprised that I could carry it. I felt someone attach something to the front of my bag and it suddenly weighed more. Someone must have put the tent on the front. I put the backpack on the ground and fished around for my flashlight. I put that, as well as the pocketknife I had been given, in my pocket so they'd be easy to reach. I kept the gun in the backpack. I didn't like the idea of having to use it. I hoped it wouldn't come to that. Jennifer, however, put her gun in the holster that she had on her belt. When she pulled her shirt down over her waist you could barely see the gun underneath it. She winked at me.

"It's so they'll never see it coming." I nodded. I guessed that I would have to get used to the idea that I could show no mercy when it came to them. I wouldn't be getting any in return. I guiltily thought that I might someday be pointing a gun at the thing that used to be Dad. It wasn't my dad. It had never been my dad. My dad was dead. That's what Aunt Lucy had said. I had to get that thought stuck in my head so I would never forget it. I pictured my dad's face in my mind and thought hateful things at it. I would forever stamp the words "Dad is bad" on my brain. And if Mom got caught or Emily or even Jennifer I would have to hate and not trust them as well; they would not be Mom or Emily or Jennifer anymore. There wouldn't be anyone to miss. I sighed and pulled my hair up into a bun so it would stay out of the way.

"We should practice going down the passage so we all know how to get to the river. It's very important." Aunt Lucy's voice shattered my concentration. "Let's get Emily and Justin up." She, Jennifer, and Mom had left the room but I hadn't noticed. Aunt Lucy walked into the room and went over to Justin and shook his shoulder. "Wake up. We're going for a drill." He jumped and almost rolled right off the bed. He caught himself and climbed down the rest of the way. Emily rubbed her eyes and looked around when we woke her up. I helped her jump to the ground.

"What's going on?" She asked as we shouldered our bags. We had to practice running through the tunnel with our bags on.

"We're going to do a drill. Get your bag." She sleepily grabbed her backpack off the ground and put it on. Aunt Lucy grabbed one side of the mirror and swung it to the side. Behind it there was a large, rectangular hole in the concrete wall. Aunt Lucy climbed into the hole and was swallowed by the darkness. We turned our flashlights on and followed after her.

The tunnel twisted and turned and every so often the ground slanted up or down depending on how far below the surface of the ground we were. Eventually the ground went from smooth to stairs and I could tell we were near the end of the tunnel. I was right. Up ahead I could see a wooden door with Aunt Lucy standing in front of it. She waited for us to crowd around her and then she pushed the door open. We stepped into the sunlight. We were a few yards above the running water of the Delaware River. The bank gently sloped into the water and I took a step towards the river to get a better look.

"It's beautiful." I whispered looking into the sparkling water.

"Now that you know how to get here let's go back to the bunker." Aunt Lucy turned and went back into the tunnel. We reluctantly followed after her. Emily took one long look at the river before she turned and walked after us. We climbed out of the hole in the wall. I closed the mirror door and put my bag down on my bed. "So," Aunt Lucy clapped her hands together, "who wants lunch?" Justin bounded into the kitchen before any of us had time to answer the question.

"What food do we have for eating?" He said as we walked into the main room. We had stocked up the cupboard with the food we had brought along with five empty bottles of bleach filled with water that had already been here. I had made a face at the word bleach but Mom said that the bleach residue helped to keep things from growing in the water.

"We have some rice crispy treats and Twinkies and for a beverage I managed to pack some Gatorade. And I've got some beef jerky if you want meat." Aunt Lucy got down on her knees and pulled out the items as she named them. Mom opened the boxes and passed the food out among us. Justin got the largest share possible. I wolfed down my rice crispy treat and my two Twinkies before draining half my bottle of Gatorade in one swig. "Don't eat so fast. When you don't have so much food you'll want to eat slower." She took a small bite out of her Twinkie. Jennifer ignored her mom and pushed a whole Twinkie into her mouth. The icing from the middle seeped from between her lips because her mouth was too full. I made a face.

"Very mature, Jennifer." I said sarcastically. She smiled and I closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to see her Twinkie again. I heard her swallow loudly.

"Sorry," she giggled, not really sounding like she meant it. I hit her arm playfully.

"Yeah, right." I laughed too. The sound was strange considering the circumstances that we were living in. "Aunt Lucy where are you taking us?" She pretended to lock her lips and throw away the key. "Why won't you tell us?"

"Because if I tell you and they catch you before we get there I don't want them to be able to use your memories to find us." We all sobered up. "Ryan, go check outside. I don't want anyone wandering around our little campsite." I nodded and headed up the stairs to the trapdoor that led to the outside world. I carefully lifted up the trapdoor so that anyone walking past the clearing wouldn't notice the gap between the wooden door and the ground. As far as I could see there was no one in sight. I opened the door a little further and poked my head out into the light. It was hot and humid out here. The concrete bunker was cooler and more comfortable. I heard a snap come from the trees and I lowered the door in case it was one of them. A woman in a short skirt and a tight fitting shirt stepped out of the trees. I let the door fall to its frame. I ran down the stairs.

"There's a woman out there. She might have seen me." I yelled as soon as they could hear me. I heard the chatter stop instantly. I jumped the last four steps and landed in the middle of a frozen kitchen. Jennifer had her bottle halfway to her mouth while Mom had a piece of a Twinkie half in and half out of her mouth. Aunt Lucy was the first to move.

"Okay, everyone you know the drill. Stuff the rest of the food into your mouths, put your drinks into your bags, get your stuff and let's go." Justin and I were already finished eating so we grabbed as much food out of the cupboard as possible and dumped it into the two bags that were there to hold food. We zipped them shut right as a thumping noise came from above like someone was jumping on the trapdoor. We ran into the bedroom and dashed past Aunt Lucy as she held the door open. She ran along behind us to make sure we didn't get lost. "Anna already has your bags. She ran ahead with the rest and they'll wait for us to show up. Turn off your flashlights. We don't want them to see us." We stopped to turn our flashlights off and then we ran silently with our hands leading the way through the darkness. After what seemed like forever we saw a golden light up ahead. Mom was standing in the sunlight looking for us. She sighed when she saw us.

"How are we going to get away? Do you expect us to cross the river?" She pointed to the river we were standing in front of.

"We have to. Put Emily and Justin on your shoulders and they can hold our food above the water. The rest of us will try to keep our things as dry as possible. This place in the river isn't too deep. That's why I picked this spot. The water isn't that strong and it only comes up to your chest. Come on." Aunt Lucy gave me two bags. Mom lifted Emily onto her shoulders. Emily took the two bags of food and held them to her chest. Justin was perched on top of Aunt Lucy's shoulders and had one bag on his back and one on his front as well as one under each arm. They were carrying as many things as possible. We all took off our shoes and put them on top of our bags. When we were sure we were ready we waded down into the water. It was cold and I bit back a surprised shout as I walked slowly across the river. The current pulled at me and along with my soaked jeans I almost went under but Aunt Lucy held me up before I could fall. We were tired by the time we reach the top of the opposite bank. Emily and Justin were the only ones that weren't soaked through to the bone. I was glad I had put my hair up. There was nothing harder than getting the smell of river water out of my hair. We didn't have time to dry off. As soon as we caught our breath we got to our feet, put our shoes on, and ran off into the trees.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

We had been running for maybe a week. It was hard to keep track of time when we were on the run. The weather had gotten better and that was good. It was no longer hot and humid. It was just hot. We were staying in a small campsite that Aunt Lucy had set up for us. The tent was only a four person tent so Aunt Lucy had set up a small hut made out of branches for the two extra people to sleep in. I didn't like others to be uncomfortable so for two nights in a row I had slept in the hut. Mom was insisting that I take the tent.

"Ryan, I don't want you sleeping in the dirt for one more night. You deserve the tent. I can share the hut with Emily. She won't mind." We were sitting around the fire pit that Aunt Lucy had reluctantly built. Emily looked far from not minding but she kept her mouth shut. She had been very tolerant about our sleeping conditions lately. "You can't keep doing this. You're going to get back problems and then you won't be able to run as fast." I put my hand on her arm.

"Mom, you've broken me. I'll sleep in the tent. Calm down." I added as I got up to put my things in the tent.

"Emily," I shouted, looking at the tent floor, "can you please take your clothes off the floor of the tent?" She groaned but came inside and moved her clothes into her bag. "Thank you." I mumbled as she stomped back outside. Justin was lying on his blankets staring at the ceiling of the tent. "Hey," I was slightly uncomfortable. Justin hadn't really talked to anyone since we had left. He nodded to show he acknowledged my greeting. "What's up?" He shrugged. "Justin, is something wrong?" I put my bundle of blankets down next to him and lay down on them.

"I know it's been a week, but I don't think it's hit me yet. I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up in my bed and that Dad will be Dad again. It's just so hard to believe." I nodded.

"Everyone wishes that were the case. Yesterday when I woke up I thought I was still at home." He laughed.

"I wish this had never happened. I wish those parasites had never come here." I racked my brain for a good answer to that.

"I don't think I can quote this word for word but I'll try. 'So do all that live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us' that was Gandalf the Grey." He smiled.

"You have that movie memorized." I ruffled his hair.

"Always remember that. You can choose what to do with your life even when it seems that you can't. Always believe that you can do something to change the world." I patted his shoulder and joined him in staring at the orange cloth that stretched out above us.

"Justin, Ryan, dinner!" Mom called from outside. We got to our knees and crawled out of the tent. We had been getting nervous lately. Our food supply was running low and that meant we would have to go on what Aunt Lucy called a raid sometime soon. That meant that we were going to break into one of the parasites' houses and steal their food. I was nervous about going straight into enemy territory. Tonight dinner consisted of a bottle of water each and a large handful of trail mix that I hated. Uncomplaining I ate the trail mix quickly to get it over with and chugged the water down to get rid of the taste. I tried not to make a face because it would hurt Mom to know I didn't like it. Emily however did not bother to hide her distaste. She ate the food slowly with a sip of water between each bite. "Emily, if you eat the trail mix faster and then you drink your water it won't be so bad." Mom said before popping the rest of her food into her mouth. Emily quickly ate the rest of her trail mix and then took a long drink from her water bottle. She made a face like she had tasted something sour. "Don't worry, Emily, we'll have different food soon. We're going to go out. Aunt Lucy and I are going to go get food tomorrow. We'll be gone for a while but when we come back we'll have food."

"I don't want you to leave. Can I come with you?" Aunt Lucy and Mom exchanged a loaded glance. Then Mom shrugged and nodded.

"I don't know why you can't. But when we go in the houses you can't make any noise and you can't turn on any lights okay?" Aunt Lucy instructed firmly. Emily nodded. "Stay with your mother no matter what. Ryan can you and Jennifer handle being alone for a day or two?"

"Of course we can. We might die of starvation first but we can definitely handle being alone for a few days." Jennifer sounded offended that her own mother didn't think we could stay in camp while they got us food.

"Justin you can listen to these two for a few days right?" Mom asked turning to him. He nodded. "Okay, so now that that's settled I think we should all get some sleep. We need to get up early if we're going to be back any time soon. Ryan, I know I don't really want you to use it but I need you to keep your gun close to you." I nodded. "We should get to sleep now. Everybody turn in." She got up and walked towards the hut that she was sharing with Emily. I got up next and went into the tent. The sun wasn't even set but I was tired. I pulled my pillow over my head and fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes it was still dark outside. I didn't know what had waked me up until I heard a noise outside the tent.

"Pst, Ryan, are you awake?" I could see Mom's silhouette against the orange wall. I got up and crawled outside. "Ryan I need to ask you something. You have to promise me that no matter what happens you have to do this." I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

"What now?" She took my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye.

"You have to _promise_ me that you'll do this okay?" I finally picked up the serious tone in her voice. I nodded. "If we don't come back in three days you need to take Justin and Jennifer and get out of here. Do you understand?" I frowned.

"You're going to come back, Mom. I know you will." I didn't sound like I believed my own words.

"And if they find you before we get back you need to run. Don't worry about us. We'll be able to stay away from here. I don't want them to get you. You have to run faster than you've ever run and you have to get away." A lump rose in my throat and my stomach twisted. "You have to take care of Justin for me. I'll wake you up when I leave. Try to get some sleep." She kissed my forehead and walked back towards the hut I stood there for a few minutes and then went back into the tent. I knew I said we would be okay but the way Mom was acting made me think she didn't have much hope for us. I would take care of Justin until she got back and then we would travel together and we wouldn't get caught. We would go to the safe place and we would stay there. I tried to push thoughts of getting caught or mom getting caught out of my head and I soon fell asleep again.

When Jennifer shook me awake it was lighter outside. I could tell it was early in the morning. I followed her outside. Mom, Emily, and Aunt Lucy were standing in a group. The two women had the empty food bags on their backs. I hugged Mom. She whispered in my ear so no one else could hear.

"I promise I'll come back. I _will_ see you again. Stay safe." She squeezed me once and let me go. Emily gave me a suffocating hug and even Aunt Lucy said good-bye.

As they walked away into the woods she shouted back at us. "If we're not back in three days we want you to leave." And then they were gone. At once Jennifer took the tent down at put it into my bag. Then she collapsed the hut and spread the branches out on the ground. After she was done we sat in silence listening to the sounds of the forest. Jennifer got up from her kneeling position sometime around noon and started pacing back and forth. I pulled out the photo album that Aunt Lucy had given to me and started inspecting the picture that meant safety.

"Where do you think that is?" Justin's voice made me jump. I hadn't heard him come up behind me. I was looking at a picture of our family. We were at some camping site that we had gone to once. There weren't any words written underneath the picture.

"I don't know. I just remember it took us two days of solid driving to get there and that you and Emily were babies when we went there." I growled in frustration. This was the last picture we had ever taken with our whole family. Our grandparents and our aunts and uncles where all there. This was Dad's side of the family. He had one brother and two sisters; Uncle Michael, Aunt Charlie, and Aunt Rachel. But it wasn't his side that was the whacky side. It was mom's siblings that were deranged. Uncle Ivan and Aunt Lucy were the family weirdoes. Uncle Ivan was an expert on government conspiracies while Aunt Lucy focused more on aliens and UFOs. Uncle Ivan had never married. Neither had Uncle Michael, I thought coming back to the normal side of the family with a jolt. Uncle Michael lived all by himself in a huge house in Pennsylvania or somewhere like that. We hadn't spoken to him in years but lately he had been calling us and asking us to visit. He was always disappointed when we could come. "I want to say that it's somewhere west of here."

"That sounds about right. We really should figure this out. I think I might remember this place." I looked sideways at him

"How could you? You were only two months old when we went there." He chuckled.

"I think I remember it. I'm not sure. It's just bits and pieces." I nodded and turned the page. "Ryan, it's been a few days but do you think they'll find us?"

"That's why Jennifer pulled the tent down. She wants to be prepared. They might have followed us but Aunt Lucy made sure it's going to take them a while to find us. They probably did find our trail. They might be following right now. They could be here any minute. We have to be prepared. Keep your ears open. If you hear anything out of place tell us and we can get a head start." He nodded. I wasn't exaggerating and he knew that. They could be anywhere between here and the bunker. I put the album away and got to my feet. I pulled the backpack onto my shoulders and looked around. Jennifer was still pacing. I walked over to her and grabbed her hand. "Jen, try to calm down. For me, just please try." She stopped pacing and looked at me.

"I'm sorry. I'm just really nervous. What if they," she looked at Justin and dropped her voice, "you know, if they don't come back?"

"Then we will have to get wherever she was taking us by ourselves. First we have to find out where we're supposed to start." Jennifer didn't look very relieved. In fact she looked even more worried.

"We don't even know where that picture was taken and the directions are insane. What kind of a tree talks? Have you ever heard of a bouncing waterfall?" The way she said that suddenly made something in my head click.

"I know what kind of tree talks." She raised an eyebrow. "You know how people carve stuff into the trees sometimes? Well wouldn't the tree have words on it? That would mean it was a talking tree." A look of dawning comprehension appeared on her face.

"You're right." She mouthed the words. I was very happy with myself for figuring it out. "I can't believe I didn't figure that out before. Of course, graffiti would for once be helpful." She laughed. "All we need to do now is find out where that darn picture was taken." I bit my lip trying to remember where we had been. My mind was blank.

"Let's forget about it for now. We probably won't figure it out for a while. Let's try to rest as much as possible. I'm going to go through the rest of these pictures to see if I could figure out if there's a connection between the pictures. You need to relax. Wait a second. Where's Justin?" We both looked around and realized that Justin was nowhere to be seen. "He's supposed to stay in camp." I moaned as we started towards the trees. "Justin, where are you? Justin, Justin," I called his name quietly.

"Justin it's not safe out here. You have to come back." Jennifer's voice was louder and it carried in the quiet forest. "Justin! Justin, get back here or you'll be sorry." She was really yelling now. "Come on you have to come back!" She stomped through the underbrush making a lot of noise. If they were close they would hear her. I got the feeling I was being watched. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing straight up. I kept looking over my shoulder as we sprinted through the trees looking for Justin. "Justin you idiot they're out here! You can't get caught. Get back here!" Jennifer yelled as she ran. I climbed over a fallen tree.

"Ryan?" Justin's voice was somewhere nearby. "Ryan, I'm right here." He stepped out of the trees. "Jeez, relax. I just went for a walk." I hugged him. He tried to push me away but I clung tighter to him.

"I'm so glad you're safe. I thought they got you. Don't ever do that again." He smiled.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." We were quiet for a while and then the sound of a shot rang through the air. We heard birds take flight, frightened by the noise. My skin turned icy cold and my breathing picked up.

"Jennifer." I whispered. Justin's face turned white. I ran towards the sound. She had to be okay. She couldn't get caught. I didn't know how to survive without her. I jumped over a root and skidded to a halt. Jennifer was standing right in front of me. She was holding a gun that was smoking. In front of her was the woman that I had seen at the bunker. There was a bloody hole in her leg. At least Jennifer hadn't killed her.

"They found us. We need to get out of here. She'll be okay. They've got insanely advanced medicine. Let's go." I looked back at the woman before running into the woods behind Jennifer.

"You shot that woman." Justin was shocked. Jennifer's face was hard.

"I had to. It would have come after us if I hadn't." I sighed.

"Did you at least make sure it was one of them before you shot her?" She nodded. Then we were running too fast to talk. It was all I could do to keep from falling down. I pushed my legs faster than I ever had before. Even faster than I had the first night we had left. We had to get as far away from camp as possible. I only hoped that Mom wouldn't try to go back there. It wasn't safe anymore. Nothing was safe anymore. Everywhere we went they were always behind us.

We didn't get too far considering we hadn't had much to eat two days in a row. We stopped near a town. We would have to break into one of those houses to get food. Going to a store was simply out of the question. As soon as Jennifer let us stop Justin collapsed onto a patch of dry dirt. We sat down while we tried to figure out how to do this. I had never stolen anything except the one time that Emily wouldn't share her French fries and I had taken a handful when she wasn't looking.

"We need to get food that will last a while. Stuff that will keep. It's not safe to go right now. It's almost night time. They're all home this time of day. We're going to go and watch one of the houses. When it's safe we'll get the stuff we need. I think it might be Saturday or Friday. They like to stick to their bodies' habits and that means they go out at night. Justin when I tell you to keep quiet you need to keep quiet okay? If they find us we're dead. Someone needs to empty their bag so we have something to carry our food in."

"I'll get rid of my stuff. I only need one of these pockets for my things. I can wear my necklace and I need to keep one of the sets of clothes I have. Other than that I can get rid of everything." Jennifer shook her head.

"No way, we'll all get rid of some of our things and we'll fit our stuff into one bag. We'll figure it out when we get there." She said as she batted away a mosquito. "We can't stay in that town too long. Come on." She picked up a bag and jogged towards the town. Justin got up reluctantly and followed her. I sighed and ran after them.

We ended up crouching behind a bush in the back yard of a house in which lived an elderly couple. We watched as the woman cooked a good smelling dish that had chicken and noodles in it. My stomach growled. I wrapped my arms around my stomach to stifle the sound. My mouth was watering and I had a hard time resisting the temptation to go right in and steal the steaming dish off the table. I tried to ignore my calf muscles as the searing pain increased. I had been crouching like this for at least an hour and a half. My back was beginning to hurt from being hunched over. Justin had sat down on the ground a long time ago but Jennifer was crouching like I was. The wind blew the smell of their dinner in our direction. I grit my teeth against the smell. Justin stretched without getting up and took a very deep breath. He moaned quietly. I felt bad that he had to suffer like this. His hunger hurt me more than mine did. And I was starving. After they had put the food away the couple got into their car and drove away. The sun had set now. It was dark, but it was also hot. I was aching to go into the air conditioning inside. I imagined the cool air and had to grip Jennifer's arm to keep from getting up.

"Ouch!" She whispered. "We just need to make sure they're not coming back for a while. A few more minutes and we can go inside." I repeated her words over and over so I wouldn't go inside too soon. They had left the sliding glass door open an inch. In this world they had no reason to distrust their neighbors. Everyone was a good alien in this world and there was no violence or crimes. Why should they be careful? They didn't know that three starving kids in their back yard waiting to steal their food. They didn't know that their world was evil and that they were monsters. They probably thought they were doing us a favor by taking us over and erasing out minds. I laughed silently at the thought of this takeover being a good thing. Jennifer slowly rose from her crouch. I got up too. My legs screamed painfully. My muscles had been stuck in the same position for a long time and they'd had enough. We tried to stay smaller than the bush as we ran towards the back door. Jennifer slid the door open and went inside. Even though I felt skittish this close to civilization I couldn't help but enjoy the cool air that I stepping into. The kitchen was dark as we crept into the house. I turned my bag upside-down and dumped my things out onto the table. I sorted through the things I wanted to keep and threw the rest into the garbage. Jennifer did the same with her bag and Justin followed our example. We threw our things into the two bags we didn't need and then Jennifer grabbed the empty bag and opened the fridge door. The light went on and she frantically searched for the button that turned the light off. I found it and held it down. We had gotten a good look at the contents of the fridge so we knew what we were grabbing as we pulled food out of the shelves and drawers. I pulled out the bowl of chicken stuff that the woman had made. Then we looked through the cupboard for food that would keep a little longer. We found cookies and gummy bears along with some bags of fruit.

The bag filled up before we had enough food. This wouldn't last long even if we only ate a tiny meal once a day and I didn't feel like eating a small meal. I felt like eating everything in the bag by myself. We stuffed candy bars and other small foods into our pockets and the leftover space in our other two bags. Then we took our canteens and filled them with water from the faucet. I stuck my head under the stream of water and drank as much as I could before letting the others have their turn. The water hurt my empty stomach.

"Okay, when they get home they'll know we were here. We have to far away by then. Let's go." We each picked up a bag and we carefully ran into the night.

We ran along next to the road keeping to the trees. When the moon was almost directly over us a police car drove slowly past. We knew our little visit had been found out and we stopped running and held our breath as the car rolled down the road. We sighed simultaneously and then started up again. We kept going until the sky was pink with the sunrise. Jennifer let us make a short stop for breakfast. We ate the chicken and noodles. It was really good considering it was room temperature and that it had been outside for eight or more hours. To top off we chugged down the milk we had gotten which had a funny taste to it.

"You know," Justin panted as we sprinted through the trees, "if you had told me a while ago that in two weeks I'd be running through the woods for my life I wouldn't have believed you." His laugh turned into heavy breathing and we didn't bother to talk after that. We ran until the sun was high in the sky. I motioned for us to stop and Justin dropped to the ground before Jennifer had slowed down. I sat down in the shade of a large oak tree. Jennifer sat down next to me. "They should be back from the raid by now. They'll come back to those parasites." Justin whispered as we caught our breath. "They'll think that we got caught or worse. They probably won't consider that we got away."

"Mom will think we're _gone_." I said, my voice catching in my throat. "Maybe it's better if they think we're gone. They won't waste time trying to find us." A single tear rolled down my face, smearing the dirt that covered my skin. "Do you remember what it was like to have a shower every night?" I asked wiping the tear away.

"I don't think I do." Jennifer laughed. "And to think that it's only been a week. When I try to remember the feel of a mattress I can't. I don't remember what being clean feels like. I know it's insane but it's true. I don't remember what it was like to not have to run. The world used to be a safer place." She sighed.

"Yeah," Justin chimed in, "back when we took three square meals a day for granted and we thought that not finishing our homework was the worst thing in the world that could happen. Ryan, do you know what I was thinking about when I went to bed the night we left?" I shook my head. "I was worrying about finding something to wear the next day. I was so upset about it. I can't believe that I was even bothered by that." He laughed at himself.

"We were children then. Now we can't afford to be children. We have to grow up fast or we won't last long in this dangerous world." I said this more to myself than to them but they nodded in agreement. "Do you think it would have been different?" Jennifer frowned.

"Do we think what would have been different?" She asked sounding annoyed.

"Do you think the world wouldn't have gotten this way if we didn't have so much bad in it? Do you think that was why they did this?" Jennifer was thoughtful for a while. Justin frowned in concentration.

"No, those monsters would have come even if we were a peaceful race. They show no mercy when it comes to taking over planets. They won't stop until the world is empty of free-thinking humans. We're unacceptable. Trust me they won't let us live in secret. They won't stop until they dig out each and every one of us and stuff one of their own in our bodies." I groaned.

"We're never going to be truly and completely safe are we?" She shook her head sadly. I moaned louder. "I miss my life. I miss having a bed to sleep in every night and having healthy food to eat every day. I miss my friends and enemies. What I wouldn't give for some French fries right now." Justin whacked my leg.

"Why'd you have to go and say that? Now I'm all hungry." He whined. "Great now I can't get it out of my head. I just can't stop picturing a nice, hot, juicy chicken sandwich with a nice tall soda and a large French fries on the side." His voice was taunting. My mouth watered as I pictured the food before I could stop it. I pushed the image out of my mind. I swiped at him but he ducked.

"Shut up, we're just going to get really hungry and that won't help anyone. Can we have lunch now or are we trying to get by on one meal a day?" Jennifer smiled.

"Of course we can have lunch. Everyone gets two candy bars, one apple, and a handful of gummy bears. I snagged a bottle of juice so we have to split it." We tore the bag apart getting the food out. I savored each bite and each gummy bear I ate. I had no food left a lot sooner than I wanted. I made a face at my growling stomach. "Don't complain. Sugar is the best thing for us right now. It keeps our energy up."

"Great." My tone was thick with sarcasm. Justin laughed.

"I'd rather have sugar than dull tasting food." He mumbled putting his last gummy bear into his mouth and chewing it slowly. "Still, I'd like some fast food right about now." Jennifer and I both hit him playfully for bringing up the topic of good food again.

"If you talk about fast food one more time I swear that you'll be the one to go and get me some." I growled. He laughed until he saw the serious expression I had on. Then his chuckle died out.

"As soon as we're done digesting we need to get a move on. It will take us an incredibly long time to cross Pennsylvania even if we had a car and since we don't we need to get moving." I grumbled to myself but decided that it would have been worse if she hadn't let us rest so I tried to enjoy this while I could. Justin leaned back on his bag. "Don't crush the food." Jennifer shouted causing us to jump. "We don't have that much but if I have to eat crumbs you're going to be sorry." He sighed and took several packages of food out of his bag before leaning back on it again.

"There, your precious food is safe." He closed his eyes. Very soon he was snoring softly. I wished I could sleep. I was too tightly wound for that right now. Every noise from the song of a bird to a squirrel scampering past made me jump.

"Ryan," Jennifer was staring at me. I ignored her, concentrating on the sounds around me. "Ryan!" I started and looked up at her. "You need to calm down just a tad. Just a little bit. If you jump at a leaf blowing past one more time I'm going to go crazy." Justin must have been awake because he smiled at her statement.

"She's right, Rye. You just have to let the sounds blow past you. Trust me, if there was someone out here, we'd hear them coming." I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I just had to get used to living like this. I had to separate normal sounds from the sound of them coming for us. I tried to put to memory the sounds that were normal in the forest. I closed my eyes and observed my surroundings with my other senses. I had to be able to travel in the dark with no light showing the way.

The first thing that was brought to my attention was the heat. It was a dry heat that was unusual for this area. It made me thirsty. I wished it would rain and then I took the wish back. I didn't want to have my clothes get wet. At least rain would cool us off. I sighed. I tried to ignore the heat. After some time I noticed other small things. The ground was hard and that wasn't good for sleeping on but running on hard ground had to be better than running in mud. I scuffed the ground with the toe of my shoe. I listened to Justin's even breathing. I missed the sound of many more people's breathing. I was used to traveling with a larger group. I even missed the sound of Mom's snores at night. I pined for Emily's bright blue eyes. I pushed them out of my mind. I couldn't be weighed down by the past. My eyes snapped open.

"We should probably get going." I whispered. Jennifer looked over at Justin. He couldn't have been really asleep the whole time because as I said this he got to his feet and stretched until I heard his joints pop. He picked up his bag and put the food back in it. I got up stiffly. It probably was a good idea to stretch. "Which way are we going?" Jennifer pointed in the opposite direction than we had come. We set off at a jog not wanting to wear out before we got anywhere.

We stopped for the night outside a small farm that was one of the first we would run into. We slept on the ground not wanting to risk someone seeing the tent. The tall cornstalks were good cover for us and we slept undisturbed. Jennifer woke us up before the sun had risen so we could cover ground before it got too hot. I could swear that the further we went the heavier our bags were. It was around sunset when we stopped. We hadn't eaten anything all day, not wanting to stop at all. We ate too much for dinner. I knew we would regret it tomorrow but right then I didn't care. At first when I ate my stomach hurt but after a few bites it took the food readily. We were too tired to put up the tent so once again we slept in the dirt.

The next couple of months passed uneventful. We raided houses when we needed food and if the residents of the house were at work or some other place we would stay in the house for a while and enjoy the fact that we had a place to rest other than the space under a highway overpass. One time the things came home before we had thought they would and we had to sneak out before they found us. After that we kept the stays to a minimum. The temperature dropped slowly and we were grateful for it until one night sometime in October. We might have been in Ohio but I wasn't sure. I didn't care where we were anymore as long as we weren't found out. We had set up our camp near a large city. We didn't like to be this close to a city but if no one found us we could stay here until our next raid. It was going to have to be soon. We hadn't had anything to eat in three days. We liked to put off the raids so we could stay in one area for a while but we were getting very hungry and we couldn't delay much longer.

It was colder than usual too. We were huddled around the small fire that was in the center of our campsite. Justin was shivering in his sweater. We would have to get coats on our next raid. I played absentmindedly with the necklace I had brought with me. It was made of what looked like glass. It reminded me of the necklace that Arwen had given Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings movie. It was my favorite possession and I couldn't let it go. My dad had given it to me on my tenth birthday telling me to be careful with it. I would never lose this no matter what. It was the only thing left from my dad. I twisted the chain between my fingers, not really feeling the biting wind that blew my hair across my face.

Jennifer had wrapped her arms around her legs and had her shirt pulled up over her mouth. I could hear her teeth chattering and her arms were covered in goose bumps. I felt bad that she didn't have any long sleeved shirts. I got up from the ground and crawled over to her. I put my arms around her and she leaned into me. She was shivering so hard that it made the ground look like it was wobbling. I rubbed my hand across her arm to create some heat with the friction. After a few minutes she stopped shivering.

"Thanks." She whispered. Justin came over to us to share the warmth. We all curled together to keep the wind out.

"We should probably go to sleep. The tent is going to be a lot warmer than out here." I pried Jennifer off of me and got to my feet. I poured some of our precious water onto the fire and we went into the tent in the dark. We crawled into the sleeping bags that we had obtained and we slept close to one another to stay warm.

I woke up to the sound of voices outside the tent. Jennifer and Justin were gone. They must have let me sleep in for some reason. I stretched and climbed outside. Sure enough, there they were, sitting around the fire pit talking about who knows what. Jennifer was the first to notice I was awake. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Hi, we were just wondering if we should go on a raid today or wait until dark." I sighed.

"I'll go by myself tonight. Be ready to leave when I get back." She opened her mouth to protest but I plowed right on through. "Just listen to me. I don't like risking all of our lives by going together so I think from now on we should rotate going by ourselves. That way if someone catches us only one of us will be found. Justin, you're not going on anymore raids. I don't want you in danger." He looked like he was going to say something but my glare kept him quiet. "When it gets close to sundown I'll leave. I'll try to make it back but I'm not promising anything." I hated leaving them alone mostly because I was afraid that Justin would get worried and come after me but it was necessary for me to leave. "I don't want anyone to come after me." With that I turned and went back inside to pack our things. We would have to leave as soon as I got back. Justin had followed me into the tent and he helped me roll up our sleeping bags and put them away. Then we went outside and took down the tent. After everything was packed and the fire pit was hidden as well as we could hide it we waited for the day to pass.

When the sun got close to the horizon I got up. Justin still looked annoyed that he couldn't come. I held my hand out to him and pulled him to his feet. I hugged him.

"Please come back safe." He said as I let go of him. Instead of saying I would I went over and hugged Jennifer.

"I'll try to get us jackets. I'll be back by sunrise hopefully." I turned and ran towards the city.

It took me a few hours to get to the city which was longer than I expected. The sun was almost down by the time I reached the outskirts of the city. This was where all the homes were. I crept through back yards looking for a house with a family in it. If I found a family I might have been able to find coats that would fit us. I finally stopped in the back yard of a family that had a teenage girl and a younger boy. From the looks of things it was someone's birthday. I overheard them saying that they were going to be late and that their parents should have started getting ready earlier. Even though they were annoyed they were still polite and kind. I watched carefully to see if they had a dog or any other pet that might raise an alarm when I went inside. I saw through one of the second story windows that they had a pet bird. It wouldn't be as much of a problem as a dog or cat would be. I waited impatiently as they got ready and left for their dinner party or whatever it was. I was crouched behind the playground that they had. It wasn't the best cover but it was good enough. The stretch of grass to the back door was flat and empty. There was nowhere for anyone to hide whether it was me or an attacker. I knew from the family's discussion that they'd be gone all night. It would give me plenty of time to get the food and get out.

I looked one last time across the lawn and ran to the door. Luckily for me it was unlocked. I turned the doorknob gingerly hoping it wouldn't make a noise when it opened. The door swung silently open and I sighed in relief. I stepped inside and shut the door enough so if anyone looked at it the door wouldn't look suspicious. There was just enough light outside for me to be able to see where I was going. I opened the fridge and held the button for the light down with my toe. I took out all sorts of things that made me even hungrier. I knew that there was more than one empty stomach waiting for me back at camp. Justin was hungry and I could bring him food. The moment Mom had left all the responsibilities of being a mother had been dumped on me and I didn't know what to do most of the time. I sighed and continued to fill the bag with food. I grabbed juice and a chunk of cheese and what looked like pizza slices. I had hit the jackpot. Justin loved pizza. I let the light on for one second to see what kind. Pepperoni, even better. I put this and more into my bag. Then I went to the cupboards and pulled out animal crackers, cereal, Oreos, and three bags of Cheetos. The bag was incredibly heavy as I slung it over my shoulder. Soon I'd be wishing that it was full. I went to the sink and filled up my canteen. I drank as much as I could.

With the food taken care of I walked down the front hall looking for a closet. I found it. There were several heavy coats. I grabbed three lighter coats and a bunch of sweaters. We would have to go south to live out this winter. I put one of the sweaters and one of the coats on and wrapped the extra clothes around the bag. Now that I was done I wanted to leave. Before I let my frightened body take me out of this place I racked my brain trying to think of anything else I needed. Not being able to think of anything I ran out the back door towards what was left of my family.

Jennifer and Justin were ready when I came into camp. They had their bags on and were pacing back and forth waiting for me. I passed out the clothes and then we took off.

"What did you get?" Justin asked as we made our way away from the city. I smiled.

"I got Oreos and cereal, oh, and pepperoni pizza." He punched the air and whooped. "Shh," Jennifer and I hissed simultaneously. He grimaced sheepishly and became quiet. "Jennifer I think we should head south. It's going to be too cold soon." She nodded, frowning. "Maybe we can stay in the desert. I don't think I can handle Florida." She smiled briefly.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

We ran until the sun had risen and was climbing in the sky. When we were sure we had put a safe amount of distance between us and the city we stopped for breakfast. Even though we were starving we only ate four of the ten pieces of pizza, two bags of Cheetos, and one bottle of juice put together. We had to be careful with our food supply. Even after our meal my stomach was still growling for more food. I ignored it as we traveled. Following my suggestion we headed southwest. We were hoping to get to the desert area of the country before winter really set in. It would be easier to go to a dry and hot area than a cold and wet area. As soon as we were done with breakfast we left. We had to hurry if we were going to get to the desert when we were supposed to. Justin didn't like the idea of blistering heat and large stretches of open space but I thought it was better than the humid weather we had to put up with here. We spent a lot our spare time arguing about it. That was where a chilly night in November found us.

"I don't like the idea of having no place to hide. Have you ever seen the desert? It's like one big, flat patch of sand and dirt. Any plant out there is too small, too sparse, or too skinny to hide behind." He was saying over dinner. Earlier that day we had snagged some hot dogs from a house and we were now cooking them over the fire. I bit my hot dog and chewed slowly before answering.

"I know, but that means that there's nowhere for the Seekers to hide either. We'd see them coming long before they got to us." Seeker was the official name for the ones that hunted down the remaining humans and put others of their kind in us. The word sent a shiver down my back and I instinctively looked over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't being watched. "It's safer. Besides, down south we won't have to worry about our toes freezing and falling off." Justin interrupted me.

"Yeah, all we have to worry about is getting heatstroke or something like that." He grumbled. Jennifer was quiet as usual as we argued. She would just eat her food and go to bed without ever once making a comment. I sighed.

"Would you rather freeze to death?" His face softened and I knew I had won. I didn't feel good about it but I got the feeling that the desert would be safer for us. I didn't know why.

"You're right. I'm sorry. It just doesn't make any sense." He ate the rest of his food.

"It makes sense because the farther away from home we get the better off we are." He looked into the fire. "We should get some sleep. We've got to really cover some distance tomorrow." He nodded and poured some dirt on the fire. I turned on my flashlight and made sure the remains of the fire were concealed before I put the flashlight in my mouth and climbed up into the trees that we were sleeping in. We slept in the trees so if someone passed us while we were sleeping, as long as they didn't look up, we'd be safe. Jennifer had already gotten comfortable. She leaned back on a rolled up blanket, adjusted her coat, and fell asleep. I had a harder time finding a comfortable limb but once I did I had no problem drifting asleep.

Jennifer woke me up the next day. It was early in the morning and I could see my breath in the air as we climbed out of the trees. We pushed ourselves to go faster. Our night's sleep and full breakfast had done wonders for our energy and we tried to take advantage of that by getting as far as possible today. I noticed that I no longer had to constantly stop and catch my breath. My legs didn't hurt after only an hour of running and I didn't get a stitch in my side from sprinting all day any more. I was proud of my improvement. I had also gotten stronger. My arms could lift heavy burdens and I could carry more things in my bag than when I had first started out. Running from aliens really was good for my health. I had also noticed small changes in Justin. His skin was darker and his hair was lighter from being out in the sun so much. We were really changing. Even so we had some problems and as we ran Jennifer voiced some of her worries.

"I think we should find more secluded areas to sleep. Like caves or places like that. I'm not sure if we've been being careful enough around the towns. I think people might have seen us in Cincinnati. We can't let them get good looks at us or they'll be having posters up in no time. I really don't think we should be raiding the big cities anymore and . . ." I let her voice turn into background noise. I couldn't put up with this right now. I think that eventually she stopped talking. I looked over at her and saw that I was right. It was easier to run now. We weren't in the forest so much anymore and often whole days would go by where we didn't have to stop to cross a stream or climb over a fallen tree or a really big root. We were glad that the obstacles were lessening but that meant that we were running out of places to hide. It worried me especially at night when it was just me and my thoughts.

Around noon we stopped for a drink. I could feel the temperature getting rising. It was subtle but after two weeks of what felt like below freezing I could gladly feel the difference. Justin seemed to notice it too and by the time darkness fell we had taken off our coats and sweaters. We kept running through the night. There were times when the only thing keeping us from falling to the ground in exhaustion was the sound of Seekers walking through the night near to us. We didn't get caught but there were a few tense moments when the beam of a flashlight passed just inches from where we hid, frightened. It took me a while to realize that they were looking for the people that had stolen the hot dogs. In my foggy mind I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. We had only taken a pack and a half. Those monsters were too sensitive.

It might have been around the early hours of morning when we stumbled across a cave. Only minutes after we found the cave it started to rain. It was a horrible storm complete with thunder and lightning and it took us a while to fall asleep. When I woke up it was still raining. Justin was still asleep and so was Jennifer from the looks of things. We were safe. The rain would keep people from seeing into the cave and that was good. I couldn't tell what time of day it was but my stomach was screaming for food. I fumbled on the zipper of the food bag and pulled out a small box of fruit leather. I ripped out one of the strips and chewed slowly on it while I waited for my brain to work. We were somewhere in Kentucky maybe or was it Missouri? I couldn't remember. We had made good time and it was about time that we rested for a few days or maybe even a week. It wasn't too cold here. We could probably stay until we needed more food which wouldn't be anytime soon. Of course the rain made what was already a cool day even colder and it wasn't long before I pulled my sweater on over my head. I didn't feel like wearing a jacket. I took a deep breath. I loved the smell of rain.

"How long have we been asleep?" Justin's quiet question made me jump to my feet, causing me to hit my head on the low ceiling of the cave. "Sorry." I rubbed the top of my head as I sat down.

"I don't know. It's still raining really hard. We deserve a few days' rest. We're not going anywhere for a while. I don't think they'll come looking for us here." He nodded, reassured and then started munching on his own fruit leather. "We'll be safe. We need to relax. We've been running too long. I decided that we're not going to figure out where that picture was taken for a long time so until then we're going to travel as slowly as is safe and we're not going to be going anywhere in particular. There's no point in hurrying if we don't know where we're going." He nodded lazily, his eyes drooping closed. He put the rest of his snack into his mouth before tugging out his blanket and falling asleep again. I finished my food and followed his lead, fluffing my pillow and pulling my blanket over me before drifting off again.

The next time I opened my eyes I was fully refreshed. I felt energized and ready to go. My legs were tensed, ready to run. I had to remind myself that I wasn't going anywhere several times before I could calm down. Jennifer was sitting just inside the cave opening. Thunder rumbled in the distance and the sound of pounding rain was soothing. Justin was lying on his stomach in the furthest corner of the cave looking at the ground and tracing patterns in the dirt with his finger. Jennifer was obviously acting as the lookout even though we didn't need a lookout. I knew we were as safe as could be. I crawled army style over to her and rolled onto my back to look at her upside-down. She looked down at me and raised an eyebrow. I just smiled up at her.

"You need to relax. We're safe for now. There's no way they could have followed our trail in this kind of weather. The rain would have washed it away." Her mouth twitched until she gave in and allowed herself to smile into the torrential rain.

"You're right. I have to relax. I'd better enjoy this while I can." She whispered. I understood her want to be as quiet as possible. "You know we're going to have to leave before the storm ends so if they do find this cave our trail will be long gone." I nodded and then pointed to the storm.

"This doesn't look like it's letting up anytime soon. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to rest and still leave before it stops." She laughed softly.

"You're right. We've got plenty of time." Still smiling she flung herself backwards and landed on her back. I stayed where I was, looking out at the rain. I listened to the steady patter of the drops of water pounding patterns on the ground. It must have been raining for a while now. I couldn't tell what time it was or what time it had been when we found this cave. It wasn't like I had a watch or anything like that. Even though it was necessary being away from civilization was often annoying. I pushed myself forward and let the rain spatter on my face. I brought my face back in before anyone saw me. The wind coupled with my wet skin felt nice. I idly thought about the life I missed so much.

Back before the world had ended I was the best tree climber in my family. I had started climbing when my older cousin took to chasing me around his back yard with a water gun. They had an abundance of huge oak trees in their giant back yard and I for three summers in a row I had spent more time in the trees than on the ground. I always had felt safe in the trees even when my mother told me to stop swinging upside-down from the branches. I felt invincible when I was playing in the trees. As soon as I pulled myself into the lower branches of a tree I felt at one with the tree. Back before everyone had been taken over I would run through the woods that my dad's sister lived in up in Maine. She had a soft spot for the woods so when she had bought her own house she had moved several trees into her yard and had planted lots of wildflowers. During the summers that we spent at her house I had become very good at darting through the trees and jumping over bushes. It paid off in the end. After all I probably would have been caught long ago if I had never learned to observe things that were flying towards me. I missed being able to run for fun and not because I had to. I missed hiding out in natural nooks and crannies because I was hiding from my cousins' seeking eyes rather than the hunting gazes of the Seekers.

"How long do you want to stay here?" Jennifer had come back over to me. Her question pulled me from my reverie. "I think two more days shouldn't hurt." I nodded in agreement.

"We need to stop for a while. Two days should be enough. If this rain keeps up we shouldn't have any problem staying here." She went back to Justin. They sat talking for a few more minutes. I couldn't really hear what they were saying but I didn't want to move closer and look like I was eavesdropping. Every now and then I could hear a word or two. From what I heard they were mostly discussing the picture; the mysterious picture that was where safety was. I huffed. "Guys," They looked guiltily up at me. "I don't want to hear one more word about the picture until someone figures it out okay?" They nodded and then went back to looking at the picture. I sighed and gave up on trying to distract them.

Instead of wasting my time on them I decided to get some more sleep. So I rolled out my sleeping bag and curled up inside it. It took me a while to fall asleep and when I did I had horrible nightmares about getting caught and having one of them inside me. It ended when the thing forcefully pushed me away and I faded into black.

I sat straight up in my sleeping bag. Jennifer and Justin were both crouched next to me. They looked at me like something was wrong. Jennifer had her hand on my arm.

"It's okay. You're awake now. Stay quiet." She was whispering. I frowned at her.

"What are you talking about?" It was her turn to frown.

"You were screaming in your sleep. I was afraid that you would get us found." Then she let go of me and went to the opening of the cave. "Listen, we've been waiting for you to wake up anyway. It's been drizzling for a while but about ten minutes ago it picked up again. I think we should take advantage of the rain and get going before it stops altogether." I nodded.

We actually packed up and left before the rain stopped. We had gotten pretty far by the time it petered away and stopped. By then we were soaked through to our skin and our shoes kept getting stuck in patches of mud. Justin didn't complain but I could feel the hate for our situation rolling off him in giant, hostile waves. Jennifer was neutral. She wasn't angry but she wasn't overjoyed either. The mud was definitely the worst part of the rain. Once I got stuck knee deep in a particularly nasty patch of mud and we lost half an hour pulling me out. After that we were more careful about where we stepped and we tried to move fast enough that we couldn't be sucked into the ground again.

We had been walking for two days straight when we reached the edge of the desert. It was sudden. One minute we were surrounded by tall grasses and the next we were the tallest things in sight. The ground was dry and cracked. Where the dirt wasn't was sand that got into our sneakers and socks. By the time the sun set we were thirsty and tired and hungry.

That night we finished the last of our food and water. We were in trouble if we didn't find a town soon. The temperature dropped severely that night and we huddled together in the tent to keep warm.

The next morning we set off in no particular direction. We wandered like that for a few weeks and we raided when we needed to but slowly the towns became farther and farther apart. It had been maybe a month or two, we were out of food and had been for three days when by some miracle we came across a city right when we thought we were going to die. The dirt gave way to asphalt and scraggily patches of grass. As we wandered around trying to find a house in which we could hide for a while we passed several cars that were stuck in the ground and had graffiti all over them. I had seen pictures of this place. We must have been in Roswell. I was shocked at how far south we had gotten. Eventually we reached the residential area of the city. There were several empty houses. We each took one almost empty bag and we hit three houses on one block. We met back near the corner to see what we had gotten. Unfortunately for us there were too many people walking around us for us to see what we had. It was when people began to notice the fact that we were dirty and wearing clothes that didn't quite fit after a number of growth spurts that we had to run. The Seekers were right behind us but we gave them the slip by hiding in a drain that we barely fit in. After that we ate and drank like we hadn't had anything to drink in years. When we were done we waited for night to fall so we could get out of the city.

The body snatchers looked for us all day and at night they got huge searchlights and swept them over the city. Several times they passed right by us. All sorts of rats and critters wormed around us as we crouched in hiding hoping that they wouldn't find us. I felt like one of those rabbits that drive the hound dog nuts by hiding in a tunnel. Any minute now the hunters could find us and blow our brains out. Of course that wasn't true. Despite the fact that they wanted to catch us they really didn't want to hurt us. They wanted us to be in tip-top condition when they put one of their wormy selves into us. I shivered as we watched the boots of a Seeker walk slowly past our hiding place. They stopped and for a second we thought we were done for. Then the woman sneezed and continued past us. It wasn't until the sun was beginning to rise that they gave up. Slowly, one by one, they left and went home. It was long after they had left that we poked out heads out into the sun. There was no one in sight but we decided to wait until night to leave.

When the sun finally set and the moon came out and the crowded street became deserted we crept from our hiding place. Down the streets we ran, hoping that no one would see us. After spending two days in a drain we stood out even more than we had when we were covered in mud and had a scraggly appearance. Fortunately we passed unnoticed as we fled from the city and into the safety of the wilderness. As soon as we couldn't see the city anymore we collapsed onto the ground and slept until the sun rose.

My eyes snapped open. I was standing before I had woken up all the way. My brain tried to work as my gaze scrutinized my surroundings. I had to be sure I was safe. I couldn't see much considering it was still dark. Two big lumps that rose and fell evenly were on the ground next to me. Justin and Jennifer must have been asleep. I grabbed my flashlight out of my pocket and shone the light into the small bushes that were near us. We were safe for now. I still thought it would be a good idea to get going before sunrise. That way if anyone saw us they'd have a tough time following us out here. I would feel better when we were far away from the city. We couldn't have put too much distance between us and civilization. The bad thing was that we couldn't put too much distance between us and a town. If we did we wouldn't have any way to get food. I sighed. The noise caused one of the lumps to jump. I couldn't tell if it was Justin or Jennifer.

"Ryan, is that you?" It was Justin. He was whispering but his voice seemed oddly magnified in the silence.

"Yeah," I sat down on the ground. He crawled over to me and curled up under my arm. I kissed the top of his head. He didn't usually do this unless he was scared. "Everything's going to be okay. Try to get some more sleep. We're going to be leaving soon. I don't want you falling asleep while we need to run." He laughed softly but I felt him relax and I could tell he fell asleep again. Not ten minutes later Jennifer woke up with a loud yawn. "Shh." I hissed.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking. Do you think we should get going? It looks like the sun will be up any minute now." I nodded even though she couldn't see it.

"That sounds like a good idea. I'll get Justin up and you can get our things. Try not to use the flashlight. It's too easily seen." She got up and I shook Justin's shoulder gently. He jerked awake and pulled away from me. In half a second he was on his feet. "Calm down. We need to get going. C'mon." I stood. I put on my bag and waited for someone to tell us to start moving. "Let's go. We should probably hold hands so we don't lose each other."

"That sounds like a good idea." Jennifer breathed so quietly that I almost missed it. I searched in the near dark for them. The sky was turning a deep shade of navy. I could almost see Jennifer's face as she grabbed my wrist. I held tightly onto Justin as we started walking.

During our stay in the drain yesterday we had decided to get as much sleep as possible during the day and travel at night so we could cover ground while it wasn't as hot out. Of course that was a problem if we ever got close to a town and they stumbled across us while we slept. We would just have to be extra careful when we hid. We kept running until the noon. It was then that we stopped and tried to get some sleep. It was important that we could have a lot of energy come nighttime.

I woke up sometime near sunset. I didn't feel like I had gotten any sleep and my head pounded as we stumbled across the dry ground. I tripped on a small twig. It made me feel incredibly stupid. Jennifer dragged me to my feet.

"We have to keep going." She grunted as she pulled me up and gripped my upper arm to keep me from tripping again. As the sun set and darkness fell we took out our flashlights not caring if anyone saw us which would be an unlikely event. The moon was full. I turned off my light. Jennifer and Justin soon followed my lead, knowing the moon was bright enough to light the way. It had to be sometime in January or maybe even February. I wasn't sure. I hated not knowing. It was hard to keep track of the time of year when the only difference in winter weather and summer weather was the difference of a few degrees. I sighed and looked up at the moon again. A few small clouds floated in front of it, blocking the pale light it provided us with. For a few seconds we jogged in scattered darkness and then the moon came out again and we moved just in time to miss a tree that we hadn't seen. Even though we had no light other than the moonbeams that were just barely enough to see with I could make out a shape on the otherwise flat horizon. I squinted at it. When I couldn't figure out what it was I pointed to it.

"What is that?" I whispered. Justin pulled a set of binoculars out of his bag. "When did you get those?" He shrugged while looking at the shape.

"One of the people we raided before you stopped me from coming was an ornithologist. It was his hobby." I gaped at him. He pulled away from the binoculars and stared up at me. "What?" I shook my head.

"Nothing." I mouthed. He nodded and went back to looking through his binoculars. "So what is it?" I whispered.

"It's a hill from the looks of things. Maybe it's a tent." He squinted, trying to figure out what the thing was. "Should we check it out?" He looked at Jennifer. She was the decision maker of the group. She bit her lip, thinking about it for a while.

"Sure, why not. It could be more humans. That would be interesting." By interesting Justin and I both knew she was hoping it was Mom, Emily, and most importantly, Aunt Lucy.

"That _would_ be interesting." I said carefully. I didn't want her to get her hopes up.

"Why not? Let's go." She started up in the direction of the thing. I still wasn't sure what it was exactly.

Whatever we were walking towards was farther away from us than we had thought. The sky was becoming lighter as we got close enough to see what it was. It was a large tent big enough to hold many more people than just two or three. There must have been a lot of people inside. We quieted and listened to the sound of several people snoring and breathing evenly. I could tell they were still asleep. There was a huge van parked nearby. We snuck over to the van and jiggled the locked handles on the back end of it. I stood up on the bumper and shone the light inside. The van was filled with huge boxes but I couldn't tell what they held.

I jumped stealthily to the ground and walked around the side of the van to see what Jennifer and Justin were doing. Jennifer was going through her bag while looking very worried. Justin was sitting on the hood of the van kicking his legs back and forth. I looked back down at Jennifer. She growled softly and looked up at me.

"Do you know where my lock picking kit is? I haven't seen it since Norman." She smiled widely and held up a packet that looked like a wallet. "Found it." She sung.

"Keep it down." I hissed. She pretended to lock her lips and throw away the key as she began to work on the van's lock. There was a loud click and she opened the door of the van. The silence was pierced by a loud noise. It had been so long since I had heard a car alarm that at first I didn't realize what was making the noise. While I had been frozen, trying to figure out what the sound that was ringing through the air the whole tent had woken up and there were noises coming from inside.

"Who turned the car alarm on?" I heard a man say.

"I thought we disabled it before we left." A woman whispered.

"Shh," another man hissed, "I think there's someone outside." The tent fell silent. Slowly the zipper on the tent opening was pulled back. The point of a rifle poked out of the hole. "Don't move." The second man said before he followed the rifle out of the tent.

My blood turned to ice and my stomach twisted so much that I thought I was going to hurl. They must be Seekers. They must have known we were out here. But how? I couldn't concentrate with a gun pointed at me. The headlights of the van had gone on when the alarm had been set off so I could see the man standing in front of me. He was tall, strong, had slightly wrinkled features, and was tan. He had mostly white hair that looked like a mane around his face and a bushy beard. He actually didn't look much older than Dad. Maybe he was in his late forties at the most. Age didn't really matter to those monsters though. Even children were treated like adults. They acted like them too.

"Is it them, Jeb?" The woman called as softly as possible.

"Yes and shh." He didn't let his gaze leave me as he hissed at the people in the tent. A woman's face poked out of the tent. It was middle aged yet wrinkled and framed by gray hair.

"Oh, it's just a kid." She said before stepping out the rest of the way. Jeb scowled at me. I cringed. It took a lot to get those worms upset. It wasn't good if you succeeded and got one angry.

"You can't be soft on them because they're kids. They're all the same. They probably sent a kid to trick us. I bet there are more out there." He cocked the rifle. I almost hurled. My gun was in my bag and too far away to get. Suddenly a dark form appeared out of nowhere, twisted the rifle from the man's hand, and pointed her own gun at Jeb's head.

"Move and I swear that the first thing to leave your body will be that stolen brain of yours." Jennifer hissed. I took advantage of the woman's surprise to grab my gun out of my bag and point it at her. "Drop it." She said sharply as the woman pulled her own gun out of a holster on her waist. She didn't move. "I said 'drop it'. Now!" The gun cocked with a loud _click, click_ that made the woman's eyes dart to the Jeb.

"Do as she says. Drop the gun." He said in a hoarse voice. The woman let the gun fall to the ground. Then she backed away from it.

"Justin." I called. A faint rustle behind me announced the position of my brother.

"I'm right here, Rye. Is it safe?" I shook my head. "Okay. Give me the signal." He added so low that only I could hear.

"Now!" I shouted. Jennifer slid away from Jeb and the woman, still pointing her gun at him. I did the same but was focused on the woman.

We kept our guns pointed at them until we were several yards away. Then we turned and ran from the tent. It was around noon when Jennifer said it was safe to stop. We crashed to the ground and didn't move until the sun had set and the moon was high in the sky. It was then that I got unsteadily to my feet and forced the others to start walking. If we stopped now we'd die.

We were so tired that we kept tripping and falling. It took us a while to realize we had been going in circles before we set off in a western direction. Jennifer had taken a compass out of her pocket and was staring at it. I got the feeling she wasn't really seeing the needle that was spinning beneath her stare.

"Does anyone know any songs?" I said after taking a long drink from my canteen. Justin looked at me like I was nuts. "Come on. We have to stay awake. Think of something." Jennifer smiled tipsily and raised her eyes to the stars.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star," she began singing in a loud and off-key voice. I smiled and joined her in singing.

It wasn't long before we were all singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" at the top of our voices. After that it was easy to stay awake. We just kept thinking of songs that we had learned when we had had regular access to iPods, CD players, and movies.

We walked like that for two weeks. We started talking more and we got to know each other better. The long hours of the day didn't seem so long anymore. Our food supply was running low and when we only had water left we made a plan to hit the small town that we had seen a couple days earlier. We were still within walking distance of it. I wanted to get some alone time so I volunteered to get the food. With surprising willingness they agreed that I was the best at getting good food. As the sun started its decline in the sky I set off in the direction of the town.

After seven hours of walking I came across the outskirts of the town. The houses were small and the lawns were brown from lack of water. There was little cover for me and that made me nervous. Fortunately the sun had finally set and the street lights weren't on yet. I had to be quick before they turned on and became spotlights on me. The streets I crept through were oddly quiet. I peeked into windows and all of the houses were empty. I noticed fliers on the electric poles. They said that the funeral of Sunlight Glitters on Fur would be held on March ninth. I frowned. That must be where they all were. If it really was March ninth it meant that today was Justin's birthday. I would have to steal something extra special for him.

I took my time, trying to find something that he loved to eat. I finally found a container of pound cake in one of the houses. I whooped quietly. He would love this. I finished ransacking the fridges and cupboards of every house on the block. I was about to leave the last house when an object on the living room couch caught my eye. It was small and it was rather insignificant but the quilt that was hung over the back of the chair was the same kind that we had had at home. I pulled it off the couch and brought it to my face. It smelled like home. I buried my face in it and inhaled the scent that made my heart ache for my old life.

The jingle of keys in the door alerted me to the arrival of the monsters that owned this house. My head snapped up and the quilt slipped from my fingers. I ran quietly to the back of the house as the parasites walked up the stairs and into whatever room was up there. I dashed through the back door leaving it swinging open. Not looking back I jumped the fence and ran as fast as my legs would take me. I could have sworn as I reached the very edge of town that I heard the sound of people yelling. I wouldn't risk looking back to see if they were after me.

I had to stop to eat near midnight. After that I pelted through the sad little bushes and jumped over the tiny cacti until I reached our camp. I dropped to my knees while Jennifer relieved me of my bag. I fell flat on my face.

"Happy Birthday, Justin." I breathed in the smell of the ground.

"Really? It's my birthday? Awesome!" He crowed so loud that a frightened bird took flight from a nearby plant. "Pound cake? Thanks so much." I pushed myself into a sitting position just in time to get a huge hug from him.

Jennifer was smiling at me. We divided up the cake and ate to our hearts' content. We told stories and laughed and sang all night. The party ended by me telling the saga that was the first birthday of Justin. He had gotten sugar high and had passed out, falling face first into his birthday cake. After that I had thrown a temper tantrum because no one was paying attention to me and everything had gone downhill. I left Emily out of the story even though it had been her birthday too. It just hurt too much to talk about her. As the sun rose we drifted off to the first peaceful sleep that we had had in eight months.

********************

"Do you think my feet get heavier every day or do I just get more tired?" Jennifer asked as she tripped once again and grabbed me to keep from falling to the ground. I staggered under her weight. It had been a month since Justin's birthday party and we had been aimlessly wandering since then. We had gone south from the small town I had raided, skirted the Mexican border, and were currently in the area around Las Vegas. Jennifer had been acting strange all morning.

"I think you get more tired." I huffed as I pulled her to her feet. "Try to stay awake." I patted her shoulder. She nodded wearily and pushed away from me.

"Okey-dokey." She sang in a silly voice. I looked over at Justin.

"By any chance did she eat a questionable plant while I wasn't looking?" I asked as her legs wobbled and I had to dart forward and catch her before she fell. Justin shrugged.

"I think she might have tasted some cactus. I don't really remember. Maybe; it's definitely possible. Hang on." He said, looking into the distance with a look of deep concentration on his face. "Yep, I saw her eat a cactus. I am positively sure that it was a cactus of some sort." I growled.

"Great. Our fantastic and noble leader is high on cactus juice." I groaned as Jennifer started to giggle hysterically.

"Who turned the sky purple?" She said airily pointing to the clear blue sky. I rolled my eyes and grabbed her hand so she wouldn't fall again. "Did you order the fries or can I have them?" She looked at me while pointing to a small round cactus that was sitting squarely on the ground.

"Um," I said uneasily, "I want my fries. We have to keep moving." I towed her along behind me while Justin snorted quietly. I could tell he was fighting back laughter.

For the remainder of the week Jennifer was tipsy on whatever she had eaten. It made me worry that she was really sick and I was angry at the stupid parasites for coming here and making it impossible to get her medicine. We just had to wait for it to leave her system. I tried to not worry. If whatever she had eaten was poisonous surely she would have died by now. I felt reassured that she had lasted so long. Still when we had to stop because she fell down and couldn't get back up again it didn't give us hope.

"I can't. I can't. Leave me alone. I want to go home." She complained as I tugged her hand. I sat down on the sand next to her.

"I want to go home too, but we can't." I said miserably. Her defeat made me lose any hope I had that we would live to find the safe place that Aunt Lucy had told us about. I bit back tears that threatened to spill over. I couldn't cry. If I did it would show Justin that I had given up. "Come on. You have to get up." I moaned. My throat closed and I couldn't talk anymore. Justin came to sit next to me.

"You have to go into Las Vegas and try to find some medicine." He said. I looked up at him, not really hearing the words he was saying. "Did you drink the cactus juice too? Can you understand me? You have to go into the city and get medicine." He said slowly. I nodded.

"Will you keep her safe?" He looked down at Jennifer who was calling for her mother. When he looked up at me he had a determined look in his eye.

"Yes." I nodded.

"I'll be back soon. Don't give Justin a hard time. He's in charge." I patted Jennifer's arm before getting up and heading toward Las Vegas.

About an hour after I had left Justin and Jennifer I reached the city. The bright, flashing lights startled me and made me nervous. I tried to swallow my nerves so I wouldn't stand out but it wasn't easy. That coupled with the fact that I hadn't had a change of clothes since January didn't make it easy to blend in with the things that were walking all around me.

Whenever a flash of light threatened to expose me for the human I was I averted my face from the light. I was just trying to figure out how I would get medicine and how I would know what it was and how to use it when a car's headlights turned unexpectedly on and the eyes of everyone around me light up. Everyone but one. A woman maybe a year or so older than mom had eyes that stayed their original color when the light hit them. I felt my mouth fall open. She seemed to notice my reaction and her face turned white.

As she passed me she grabbed my hand and dragged me along behind her to a less crowded area of town. When we were alone she stopped and spun around to look at me.

"Who are you?" She said as she pulled a small cylinder from her pocket. A bright light made my eyes water. "You're still a human?" She asked shocked. I nodded.

"Do you know where I can get some medicine? My cousin is sick." I blurted out. I knew some extra help would come in handy.

"There's more than one of you?" She looked uncertain for a minute.

"Yes, there's Jennifer and Justin. Jennifer's sick." I repeated. I was in a hurry.

"Of course, of course; I have a friend who can help you. Follow me." With that she set off at a brisk pace in the direction of the crowded area of town.

I had been walking with the mysterious woman for a while when she stopped outside of an apartment building and opened one of the doors. I slowed my pace. She must have known what made me hesitate so she took my hand reassuringly and pulled me towards the elevators. She hit the fourth floor button and waited for the doors to close. When they did she looked down at me.

"Who are you?" I whispered. They wouldn't have security cameras in the elevator. There was no need to whisper.

"I'm a friend. My name's Tammy. Now you can stay with me if you want but even if you don't you can always come back. Now I want you to stay calm when you meet my friend. He's my husband and I don't take kindly to people trying to hurt him. He and I have been living here since we got married and we've been taking care of humans long before we even met. He's a good man." She added as the elevator doors opened with a _ding_. She led me down a hall and stopped in front of the door with the number 404 on it. She twisted the handle which was unlocked and ushered me inside.

The inside of the apartment had a yellow glow to it and it was rather small. The kitchen was right off the living room and a small hallway led off the main room probably to the bedrooms. A man with black and gray hair was sitting on the couch watching the television carefully.

"Ah," he said as he looked up at his wife, "I see you picked up another one. Where did you find her?" He said as he got up and circled me. I suddenly was extremely aware of my ragged appearance and matted hair. The man clicked his tongue. "How long have you been away from home?" He asked as he took out a flashlight and shone it in my eyes.

"I'm not sure. We left in August last year. I don't know what month it is." I said as he stood and nodded at her.

"You'll be safe here. Don't worry." Tammy patted my arm. "Mitch, she says she came here looking for medicine. She says her cousin is sick." The man's eyes lit up.

"There's more than one?"

"There are three. I think she's in a hurry." She added when Mitch started bouncing in place.

"Of course." He said hurriedly. "Do you know how your cousin got sick?" He said as Tammy went into the kitchen and I sat down somewhat hesitantly on the armchair.

"Justin says she ate some cactus but he's not sure. She's been sick for a week and I'm getting really scared." A note of hysteria entered my voice near the end. Mitch put his hand on mine and patted it reassuringly.

"It's okay I have a friend who is sympathetic to the remaining humans. He's a Healer. He can get me the medicine I need. Can I see your bag?" He waited patiently as I took off my bag and took out my gun. He shuddered at the weapon. Suddenly several things clicked in my head. He had said that his friend was a Healer who was sympathetic to the remaining humans. He had been afraid of my gun.

"You're one of them." My voice was louder than I thought it would be. I jumped to my feet and wished that my gun was loaded. Tammy came rushing out of the kitchen. She put herself firmly between me and her husband.

"Calm down. Drop the gun." She said firmly. I remembered what she said about people trying to hurt him and I realized this wasn't the first time someone had reacted badly to her husband. Then I realized that she was still a human despite the fact that she was living in the same apartment as one of them. I got the feeling that I would be safe here. I sat slowly down on the arm chair. The woman relaxed.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, "it just surprised me, that's all." Tammy smiled and went back into the kitchen.

"Trust me, I'm used to it." Mitch laughed. "See this?" He pulled back his sleeve to reveal a long, jagged scar on his otherwise flawless skin. "That happened when one of the men she picked up threw a vase at me." He chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Here's your bag." He handed me my pack and turned the television on.

"Why do you watch that?" I asked as he scrutinized the screen on which a woman was reporting the weather.

"I watch the street behind her to see if there are any humans out there. They're pretty easy to spot. You see they all look the same. They have that frightened look on their faces and you can tell that they want to run but they can't unless they want to call attention to themselves. They keep looking at the camera. I don't know how anyone else misses them." We watched the screen for a few more minutes before he huffed and turned the channel to a soap opera that was so perfectly acted out that it was insanely boring.

Soon after he changed the channel Tammy came out with several plates piled high with food. She put the largest plate in front of me. I nibbled until my appetite made a sudden appearance and after that I wolfed down my food. Tammy was happy at the amount I ate. I bet she was probably worrying that I was too skinny like my mother used to.

I wasn't full until I had eaten two plates of mashed potatoes and chicken and four tall glasses of lemonade. I put down my fork and leaned back in my chair. The television became background noise. Slowly I drifted off towards sleep. I was only slightly aware of a pair of arms slipping under me and carrying me. Then I was put onto a bed. I rolled over and curled up into a ball under the blankets.

The next thing I was conscious of was the smell of eggs wafting through the air. I took a deep breath before I stretched out of the ball I had slept in and got to my feet. For a second when I had woken up I had been sure that the previous night was a dream. I noticed a pile of clean clothes at the foot of my bed. I looked at the tag. They were two sizes bigger than the clothes I was wearing which probably meant I would actually fit these. I changed into the new clothes and found that they fit me perfectly. Someone had taken off my shoes. I squeezed my feet into my too small shoes and went out to breakfast.

When Tammy saw that I was wearing the clothes she had given me she smiled.

"I hope you like those. I couldn't figure out what size your shoes were so you can take your pick of these." She opened a closet door and took out several pairs of brand new sneakers. It took me a while to find the right pair but when I did they were just as comfortable as my old shoes had been when they had fit. I walked around the apartment for a while. Then Tammy made me sit down to breakfast. "Mitch called his friend. He dropped the medicine off before they left for work. You can leave as soon as you're ready." She piled eggs onto my plate and poured orange juice into my glass.

"I wish I had something to give you." She waved away my thanks.

"Don't be silly. We don't need money and I already have everything I want. You always stay here for free. You could use a shower though." She fingered my hair. "Eat first and then you can wash up." She pointed firmly to my eggs and I started shoveling the food into my mouth.

After I had finished my food Tammy shouted me into the bathroom and insisted that I wash up before leaving. I sighed in defeat as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. She was right. I needed a shower. My hair was matted and dull and my skin was covered with a layer of dirt mixed with sand. My clothes looked oddly clean on me. I took a very long shower, enjoying it while I could and after I had gotten dressed again Tammy carefully combed out the tangles in my hair until it was the shiny, black silk that it used to be. Then she braided it so I would have an easier time keeping it smooth. Whenever I put to words my bad feelings for her giving me so much without getting anything in return she would tell me that it was nothing and that knowing she had helped another human was its own reward.

"Now remember, you'll always be safe at Tammy's. You can always come back." She said as she gave me the medicine for Jennifer and opened the door for me. She patted my shoulder and shut the door before walking me down the hall to the elevator. "I can drive you to the edge of the city but after that you're on your own. Try to stay safe." She said as we got into her SUV and started to drive down the road.

The drive to the edge of the city was quiet and slightly uncomfortable. I started out the window at the buildings that flashed past us. I felt oddly out of place in this city. It was an unfamiliar place. Even though I had spent most of my life so far in civilization I had been on the run long enough that houses and buildings and cars and people made me nervous. If the aliens left and the world went back to normal I would have a hard time adjusting. I wouldn't be comfortable in large cities or even towns. I probably would have to sleep on the floor for a few weeks until I felt comfortable enough in my own home to sleep in the bed. I almost laughed at the thought of being afraid to sleep in a bed.

When we reached the outskirts of the city Tammy pulled the car over to the curb and reached into the back of the seat. She pulled out a bag and handed it to me. I unzipped it and found several types of food that lasted a long time. There was even a jar or two of preserved tomatoes and peaches and one had strawberries. There was a small picture of their apartment building in one pocket.

"Take this. It will last you a while. Good luck." She patted my head and then waited for me to get out of the car.

"Thank you so much." I whispered before opening my door and jumping onto the sidewalk. She smiled as I slammed the door shut and started to walk in the direction of my family.

I had been walking for about two hours when I found them. They must have moved away from the city to stay hidden. Jennifer was lying in the scanty shade of a creosote bush and Justin was crouched beside her with his hand protecting his eyes from the sun as he looked for me. When he saw me he jumped to his feet and shone a light in my eyes. I blinked, startled.

"What took you so long? I was afraid they had gotten you." He said as I slipped into a crouch next to Jennifer.

"I ran into someone who let me stay at their place for the night. She gave me new clothes, more food and medicine for Jennifer. Here swallow this." I instructed, giving Jennifer a small and round pill. She took a drink from her canteen after she put it in her mouth and after a moment she sat up and looked around at me.

"Did I seriously ask you if you wanted your fries?" She asked in an appalled voice. I nodded and started to giggle. She scowled at me.

"What were you thinking when you ate that cactus?" She frowned.

"I don't know. It looked really good. I was hungry and breakfast wasn't enough that morning. I know it was stupid but I wasn't thinking. So there's a safe house in Vegas?" She said. Justin looked like he had been wanting to ask me this question.

"Yes, if you ever go back there, look for a woman with brown hair about Mom's age. She answers to Tammy. She lives in an apartment building. Look they gave me a picture so I could find the apartment building where they live again." I pulled the picture out of my bag and handed it to Jennifer. She memorized the photo before handing it to Justin. He looked at it briefly and then gave it to me. "Good. Now that everyone knows what it looks like we're good. Remember that they live on the fourth floor, room 404. I'm guessing that four is their safe number. Now I don't want you to be alarmed but her husband is one of them. He's the one that gets medicine and food for the people that stay at their house." Jennifer made a face but Justin looked relieved. "Don't worry. He won't turn anyone in. He's married to a human for goodness' sake. You can't get any better than that. And his wife is fine with the fact that he's a parasite. If it doesn't bother her it shouldn't bother us. Besides, I stayed there for a night. They had ten hours to put one of them in me and they didn't. I think it's safe." With that I took out a jar of peach preserves and started eating them. They both knew the conversation was over.


End file.
